Shakespeare has a Quote for Everything
by TKcloud9
Summary: Soulmate A/U. Only one in twenty people actually had soulmate birthmarks, according to historical records and a recent survey. And the rest of humanity was left to fend for itself. But in this world of aliens, human mutants, secret government agencies, and super-powered technology, what was so special about soulmates? Except of course, Diana Lawrence had six. Complete.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: So, I let myself run with the soulmate thing. It turned out really, really long. This goes from post- Winter Soldier all the way past Civil War. Spoilers for everything.**

 **Disclaimer: don't own Marvel, Avengers, Disney, or anything of value really. Only Diana Lawrence.**

 _"There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."_

These were paraphrases from lines from one of Shakespeare's most famous plays. It was also a phrase tattooed across Diana Lawrence's right shoulder blade and looped around her upper arm. It was written in a beautiful black calligraphic script that never faded. It had been there along with six other marks since the day she was born.

Diana didn't remember that day of course, but her mother told her of the story of her birthmarks, which on closer examination happened to be writing. The midwife attending the birth had turned white as a sheet and then touched one of the marks.

"This child is blessed," she said simply. "She will have true soulmates, many of them. These are the words that will be spoken by them."

"How do you know?" Diana's mother asked, afraid for her baby.

The midwife pushed up her sleeve. On her forearm was written, "Sing me a tragedy." "These were the first words my husband spoke to me. We've been married over twenty five years. There are platonic soulmates, of course. Only one of these is her future mate."

"Oh," Diana's mother said faintly. "Well, at least she'll marry a thespian. Or at least know a few."

Needless to say, as an infant and a child, Diana was kept away from tanktops and shorts. It wasn't until she was fifteen that she was allowed to "get" her tattoos and display them publicly. Everyone in her high school was insanely jealous, and those who knew what they were (only the members of the Lit Club), compared soul marks if they had them, hoping to match up. They didn't.

As Diana grew older, she became an expert on Shakespeare, having inherited a love of reading from her mother. She didn't just read the Bard, though - she read everything she could get her hands on, whether it was a comic book, novel, or a newspaper.

She also researched the concept of soulmates. In this universe at least, it was pretty rare. Only one in twenty people actually had soulmate birthmarks, according to historical records and a recent survey. And the rest of humanity was left to fend for itself.

But in this world of aliens, human mutants, secret government agencies, and super-powered technology, what was so special about soulmates?

Once Diana graduated high school, her mother sent her to college for a degree in Liberal Arts, the things that really mattered.

"You ought to take a STEM career," her dorm mate advised. "They're more current, more lucrative, and since we're girls they're looking to even out the genders. We get scholarships and stuff."

Diana rolled her eyes. "And when all that science, math, engineering, and tech go away, what are we left with? It's about the _ideas_ , Kim, the reasoning, the communication, the thinking."

Kim didn't look up from her tablet. "Uh-huh."

At twenty-two years of age, with a Bachelor's degree in Liberal Arts and a minor in English, Diana moved from Massachusetts to New York to be close to her mom. She found a job as an editor for a magazine and sold freelance articles on the web. She wasn't rich, but she made enough to get by.

One of her favorite indulgences was a caramel mocha and a hot buttery scone from her favorite coffee shop. According to the barista, it was also a favorite of the Avengers. Due to Diana's rare visits, she'd never seen them, and didn't bother looking.

She was re-reading Hamlet for the billionth time as she savored her scone when suddenly she heard a voice say, "There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy."

Her first thought was, "Someone's reading one of my birthmarks," but since she was wearing a long-sleeve cardigan she realized it wasn't - and looked up, her shoulder where the words were located burning with tension. "Aye lord, what fools these mortals be," was her reply, since maybe she'd found a fellow Shakespeare buff and they'd recognized her book.

She was _not_ expecting the tall, blond stranger to turn pale and sink into a chair across from her. "Why did you say that?" he asked.

"I... don't know? It just came out. Sorry, I'm a Liberal Arts major."

He smiled at her. "Nice to meet you. I'm Steve Rogers."

"Diana Lawrence," she replied, and did a double-take. "Wait. What?"

He gave her a sheepish grin. "Yeah."

"But you're..." _Captain America!_ Her inner fangirl squeed happily.

"Yeah," he said again.

The critical part of her mind said she was making a fine show of her college degree when she couldn't even finish a sentence. She decided to put in some effort. "Why did you say those words?" she asked. "When you first spoke?"

"That's my favorite line from Hamlet," he said, gesturing to the book. He eyed her carefully. "Why?"

"Because," she said, starting to blush, her shoulder aching with tension, "I have those words, as a-"

"Birthmark?" he finished nervously. "Yeah. Me too."

She stared at him and he stared at her. "Do you know what that means?" she asked him, her voice still hushed in awe.

He gave her a pleased smile. "It means I've finally found the one I've been looking for my whole life."

She gave him a smile in return, still in shock. "I can't believe I've finally found you," she admitted. One down, five to go.

They smiled at each other for a few more seconds, and then Steve asked, "Can I um, can I ask, where are they? Your words?"

She blushed slightly. "I can show you, if you'd like." She pulled her cardigan off one sleeve and turned, lifting her hair so he could see the words under her tanktop strap. She jumped slightly when his warm fingers traced the outward spiral on her shoulder blade.

"Sorry," he apologized, moving back, eyes still glued to her shoulder as she shrugged the cardigan back on. "I just never thought I'd see my words on someone..."

"Where are yours?" she inquired.

He turned slightly red. "They're written in three lines, just under my ribs on my right side." he gestured to his long sleeved plaid shirt and T-shirt. "I can't exactly show you now."

"Probably best not," Diana agreed. "Somebody might faint."

He turned red. "Ma'am?"

She blushed at being called ma'am. "Just call me Diana," she told him.

"Diana," he repeated, the way he said it making her feel warm and content. "Call me Steve."

"Steve," she echoed. She was now officially on a first-name basis with one of her soulmates.

"Hey Rogers, let's go! We've got things to do," a well-known voice called.

Diana glanced over and gawped. "That's Tony Stark."

"Yeah. You'll get used to him." Steve gave her a smile. "Would you like to meet him?"

"Um..."

Stark saved her the trouble of answering as he swaggered over. "Let's go, Capsicle, people to save, money to make. And you have an appointment in twenty minutes, so drink your coffee."

"Are you your brother's keeper?" Diana asked, amused at the slightly paternal tone to his voice.

Tony Stark's jaw dropped and he turned to her with a slowly widening grin. "Not his, but yours, dollface," he replied, sitting across from her.

She stared at him, eyes widening to the size of her coffee cup as her arm began to tingle. "No way."

He grinned. "Yes way. Hopefully we're platonic, doll, or else my girlfriend and I will have a problem."

She shook her head. "I was so not prepared for this."

"What's going on?" Steve asked, glancing from one to the other. "Do you know each other?"

Diana swallowed hard and pushed up the sleeve on her left forearm. "I have more than one soulmate, Steve." On her arm were the words ' _Not his, but yours, dollface.'_

Tony pushed up his own sleeve, revealing a script-like tattoo on his arm. _'Are you your brother's keeper?'_ "What do you mean more than one?" he asked curiously.

She pointed to Steve. "We're soulmates. We just found out."

Tony's jaw dropped. "No way. Capsicle and I can _not_ share a soulmate."

"The words are there, I saw them," Steve said, feeling protective of his new soulmate.

Tony leaned against the back of the chair. "That's just too weird."

"How many more do you have?" Steve asked, after a second.

"Four more," she said. "One on my shoulder, side, hip, and calf."

"And you don't know any of the others?" Tony asked.

"No. Just the two of you, today."

Tony nodded. "Wow. Okay. Well, you know what this means. Where do you live, oh soulmate of mine?"

"About fifteen minutes from here."

He clapped his hands together. "Great. We'll help you pack up your stuff."

Diana stared at both of them. "What?" she asked faintly.

"You're coming to live with us at the Tower," Tony said, his tone matter-of-fact.

"But-" she started.

Tony took her hand gently, looking surprisingly serious. "Listen, doll, you're the soulmate of Iron Man _and_ Captain America. We have to protect you. It's in the very nature of this soulmate business. And, now we know who you are, you've _got_ to live close to us, even if its for no other reason than just to bond. Where better than Avengers Tower?"

She nodded slowly. "If it's all right with Steve, then, sure."

He reached out to take her other hand. "Definitely," he assured her, squeezing her hand. "It is definitely all right with me."

She smiled at them. "Then I guess I'm moving in."

"Yay!" Tony said, standing up. "Come on, we've got a car outside." He raced impatiently out the door.

Steve was the gentleman and held the door for her as she walked out. He also opened the car door for her.

"Don't one-up me," Tony said, scowling. "You already got a five minutes head-start, you're not allowed to one-up me."

"Then mind your manners," Steve retorted, from the backseat.

Diana smiled. "I'm gonna love you guys, I can tell."

Tony grinned at her. "So, I don't think I even got your name."

"Diana Lawrence," she replied.

He reached out to shake her hand. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Her eyes widened. "I have to call in to work."

"Where do you work?" Steve asked, as she dug out her phone.

"Uh, I'm an editor at a magazine."

Tony raised an eyebrow. "It's not Cosmopolitan, is it? You don't look like a Cosmo kind of girl."

She rolled her eyes. "No, Tony, it's not Cosmo. I work for Time Magazine, their New York office. I'm just a junior editor, but it pays the bills."

"Oh, cool."

"Yeah. Oh, turn left, here."

They arrived at her apartment, which was a typical closet with a bed. Besides the bed, there were books everywhere, stacked on the floor, on top of the closet, on the shelves.

"You ever heard of a Kindle, doll?" Tony asked wryly.

She stared at him. "There is no way I will ever replace my books with an electronic device." She scooped up her complete copy of Shakespeare's works. "These are my babies."

"You have any boxes?"

Between the three of them, they got her clothes ("we need to take you shopping"), some of her books, and her tech into the car downstairs. "We'll send SI movers to get the rest of it," Tony promised, shoving Steve out of the way to open the door for Diana to get in.

She smirked. "Thank you, Tony, such a gentleman."

As they drove to Avengers Tower, an awkward silence dawned.

"So," Diana finally said, "any of you have any more words on you?"

Steve sighed. "I have, well, one. He was like my brother, in the forties. He uh, he's not here." He rubbed at his side, where Bucky's words were located.

She reached back to touch his knee. "I'm sorry," she said sincerely.

He nodded. "Thank you."

She looked over at Tony. "You said you had a girlfriend?"

"We're soulmates," he said. "Pepper Potts. You'll love her, too. Hopefully you're not also soulmates. That would be weird. Can that happen?"

"Who knows," Steve said, shrugging. "I've never really heard of it."

"The whole topic is kind of taboo," Diana said. "I did research on it for years, and everybody knows about it, but no one talks about it. It's just one of those things, like mutants, and cults, and things."

"Well, this is it," Tony said, as they approached the Tower. "Home sweet home. Mi casa es su casa, as you know. Literally. You could go to Malibu with us. That'd be awesome. Anyway. This is the garage, this is our personal Avengers elevator. Don't take the other one, people will stare."

"Speaking of which," Diana said uneasily, as the thought came to her. "Will the others on your team be okay with, me?"

"Of course," Steve said, smiling at her reassuringly. "They'll be glad we've found each other."

"Now you're stuck with us," Tony added. "Besides, Clint and Natasha are actually platonic soulmates, so, they've got to like you or they'd be hypocrites." He looked up at the ceiling as the doors closed. "JARVIS, this is my soulmate, also Cap's soulmate. Diana Lawrence. She has complete access to the Tower."

"Yes sir," a voice replied. "It's very nice to meet you, Miss Lawrence."

She raised an eyebrow at the ceiling. "You too?"

"This is JARVIS," Steve said, "he's an AI. He runs the Tower, and Tony's suits, and our comms."

"Oh," Diana said, relaxing. "Cool."

"JARVIS is our genie in a bottle," Tony said. "All you have to do is ask, and he will provide." The doors opened. "This is the common floor," he continued, ushering her out. "Movie room, living room, kitchen, pantry, library, you know."

"Library?" Diana said, eyes lighting up.

"Later," Steve promised her, smiling.

"The floor below is the gym, pool, training room, etc," Tony said. "That's the boring floor. Anyway. Million dollar question. Where do you want your apartment?"

"A whole apartment?" she asked, eyes widening. "I'm not that important, I just-"

"I'm not putting you in a spare room like a guest," Tony said firmly. "You're getting your own suite of rooms. Now do you want them on the same floor as Steve and Bruce, or on a whole level by yourself?"

"Either one," she said, glancing at Steve.

"Then next to mine and Bruce," Steve said. "That way we can be neighbors." He smiled at her.

She smiled back at him. "Sounds great."

"Cool," Tony said. "This way."

The apartment was decorated in shades of brown and blue, and looked very homey. "I think the bed is bigger than my whole apartment," Diana said faintly, stuck in the doorway of the bedroom.

"Probably," Tony replied, dropping the box of clothes in her walk-in closet. "JARVIS will help you decorate your rooms. You don't have a lot of stuff, huh?"

"Not really," she replied. "My mom has most of it in her house."

"Your mom?" Steve asked, from the small kitchen and dining area. "Where does she live?"

"On the other side of the island," Diana said. "A little old house, been there forever. It's ours." She smiled. "I have to call her, introduce you to her. She'll be so happy I've found you." Impulsively, she threw her arms around both of them. " _I'm_ so happy I've found you."

They both hugged her tightly. "Trust me," Steve said, smiling down at her, "the feeling is mutual."

Tony eyed them both as he stepped back. "Hey, soulmates," he said, drawing their attention. "Who wants lunch?"

"Is it lunch already?" Diana asked, surprised.

"Yep. We can get take out. Do you like Chinese?"

"Yes."

"Good." Tony nodded. "I'll go order some." He walked out, calling to JARVIS.

"I'll let you get unpacked," Steve said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Uh, let you get settled."

"Sure," she said, smiling at him. "Just tell me when the food's here."

"I will."

And then she was standing alone in her new apartment in Avengers Tower. "This is so weird," she said aloud, staring at the closed door. "So, so weird. And so sudden. Like, I didn't even finish my morning coffee, and BAM! Two soulmates. Who happen to be Avengers. Two Avengers who happen to be my soulmates. Wow." She couldn't stop blithering to herself. She could barely wrap her head around the events of the morning.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" an amused voice asked from thin air, sending a chill down her spine.

Diana let out a shriek and whirled, glancing up at the ceiling. She found a shadowy form in the air vent. "Do you always hide in the vents?" she retorted.

The man let out a startled sound and his grip on the vent slipped, and he crashed at her feet with a slight groan.

"Are you all right?" she asked, kneeling beside him. She recognized him, now. It was Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye. Not a random creeper, after all.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, sounding a little winded. He sat up and stared at her. "So. You're the other one. Natasha's going to flip."

"What?"

"Soulmates," he said. "Natasha's one of my soulmates. You're my other one."

She gaped at him, and then remembered, belatedly, that the words on her left shoulder that zigzagged down her shoulder blade were ' _Do you always talk to yourself_?'. "You've got to be kidding me," she said, numb. "That's three in one day."

"Three in one day what?" Clint asked. "Who are you, anyway? I'm Clint, by the way."

"My name's Diana." She explained briefly about Steve, and then Tony, and now him.

"So, you've got our words on you?" he asked. "Where's mine?"

"My left shoulder."

"Can I see?"

She took off her cardigan and turned. "That's Steve's on the other side."

He traced the words, and she could feel the callouses from his fingers. "Well," he said, sounding pleased and awed. "This is pretty cool."

"Where are yours?" she asked, turning to face him.

In reply, he shrugged off his shirt and turned around.

"So _do_ you always hide in the vents?" she asked, smiling, touching the script on his shoulder. They had matching marks, like her and Tony.

"Sometimes," he said. "It's quiet in there. Helps me think." He helped her to her feet. "Come on. Let's go tell the others."

They found Tony and Steve in the living room, arguing about whose soulmate-ness took seniority.

"Guys," Clint said.

"Oh, good you've met Diana. This is-"

"My soulmate," Clint finished. "Yeah. We know."

Steve and Tony's jaws both dropped. If it wasn't serious, it would be comical. "Show us," Steve said.

So Diana shrugged off her cardigan for a fourth time, and tied it around her waist. If any more Avengers showed up she wanted the proof there in the open. It wasn't cold in the tower, anyhow.

"You were talking to yourself?" Steve asked, reading the words on her skin.

She blushed, thankful that she was facing away from them so they wouldn't see her embarrassment. "I was trying to process everything. I do that sometimes. He surprised me."

That was when Bruce walked into the living room, looking for a snack. Instead he found three of his teammates staring intently at a strange woman's tattooed shoulders. "Uh, guys?" he asked uncertainly. "What are we all looking at?"

Tony waved him over. "Brucie. What do you know about Shakespeare?"

"Uhhhh..." He looked at the Shakespearean quote on the young woman's right shoulder. He didn't recognize it. "To be or not to be, is all I know," he said, shrugging.

Diana's knees nearly buckled when he spoke. "Angels and ministers of grace," she whispered, turning pale.

Bruce turned an equally pallid color. "Wh-what did you say?" he stammered.

Steve wrapped an arm around Diana's waist and turned her to face them. "Are you all right?" he asked, concerned at the lack of color in her face.

"You're not going to go green on us are you big guy?" Tony asked cautiously, at the same time.

Bruce shook his head, trying to get his breathing under control.

Diana finally answered Steve's question. "I'm fine," she said. "I'm better than fine. Look." And she pulled up the bottom of her tanktop, revealing her right side. There, clear as day, were Bruce's first words to her.

Tony felt like turning pale himself. "No way. Bruce. Where?"

Bruce pulled his long sleeve shirt off and tugged his undershirt sleeve up. _'Angels and ministers of grace,'_ was tattooed in a ring around his arm, like a coil.

"I think we should sit down," Steve suggested, maneuvering Diana's limp form to the nearest couch.

She sank into it gratefully and watched as the others flopped into couches and chairs as well. "Four of you in one day," she said faintly. "This is... ridiculous. I don't even know how to react."

"But physically, are you all right?" Bruce asked, worried, snapping into protective doctor mode.

She nodded. "I'm fine. I think it's just shock, you know. And my soulmarks are tingling."

"It's the bond," Tony deduced. "So is mine."

"And mine," Steve and Clint echoed.

"What bond?" Bruce asked

"When soulmates finally meet each other, they form a sort of emotional and mental bond," Tony explained. "Like, they can pick up each other's extreme emotions, if they're hurt, angry, sad, happy, that sort of thing. And the longer a bond is active, the more tuned it gets. Some people can actually transmit thoughts and signals to each other, or impressions of their surroundings."

"That's what's happening right now?" Steve asked, wrapping an arm around Diana's shoulders.

"Yeah," Tony said. "We might be a little, ah, clingy, too, while it's forming. It's like, proximity makes us happier. Pepper and I were attached at the hip for like, two weeks while our bond was forming. "

"Well it is logical," Clint said, "we are soulmates after all."

After a long moment Tony spoke. "Where and what are your other words?" he asked. "Maybe we can find the other two."

"Wouldn't it be weird if they were," Clint started, and shook his head. "Nah."

"I was just thinking that," Tony nodded. "Anyway. Diana?"

"One's on my hip," she said, pressing a hand to the spot. No matter if they were soulmates or not, she wasn't going to be showing them her hip anytime soon. "It says 'sleepless night' and a question mark."

"And the other one?"

She rolled up her pant leg.

"Milady," Steve read.

They all shared a glance. "is it just me, or is that distinctly Thor thing to say?" Tony asked.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Bruce said. "Whatever was meant to be, is."

"Very zen of you," Steve said.

"It's true though," Diana spoke up. "They are already determined. We can't force it."

"JARVIS, call Thor back from New Mexico, or London, or wherever Jane is." Tony ordered. He glanced at Diana. "He's going to want to meet you."

"Summoning Thor, sir," JARVIS replied. "He should be here in two hours."

Tony nodded. "Good. Well, in the meantime, we can have lunch."

They all sat at the table and passed around cartons of food. Diana was amazed to see Steve eat so much. "It's my metabolism," he explained, grinning at her. "I have to eat a lot."

"The only one who eats more than him is Thor," Tony added. "And Bruce, after he's come down from a transformation."

Bruce shifted uneasily beside her, and got up to leave. "Excuse me," he muttered.

Diana shared a glance with the others, and Steve nodded to her. She got up from the table and followed Bruce, catching him in the hallway. She reached out to squeeze his arm gently, on the spot where her words were. "Hey," she said softly. "You okay?"

"I shouldn't even have a soulmate," he said quietly. "It's dangerous. I wish I hadn't found you."

"Don't say that," Diana entreated, suddenly scared he would reject her. "Everyone should have a soulmate. The ones who do, someone once told me that we are blessed. It's a gift, not a curse, Bruce."

"But what if I hurt you?" he asked, suddenly emotional.

"Does he have them?" she asked, struck by a thought.

"Huh?"

"Does the Hulk have those words, too?" she asked.

"I, don't know?" he said, confused. "Why-"

"JARVIS?" Diana asked, glancing up at the ceiling.

A photo appeared on the wall screen next to them, of the Hulk's right arm. There were her words, clear as day.

"There," Diana said, smiling gently. "He has them too. If he didn't then we could be worried. But you're my soulmate, both parts of you. So neither you, nor the Hulk, could do anything to hurt me. Okay?"

He nodded hesitantly. "Okay."

She took a chance and hugged him. He stiffened at first, and then relaxed into her embrace, and wrapped his arms around her. "You're not going to reject me, are you?" she asked, still worried about his reaction to her.

He hugged her tighter. "No, no, I promise. It's just, I'd given up hope of finding you after the accident, and I was worried about your safety."

She sighed. "Good. Thank you. I don't know what I'd do..."

"It's okay," he said, their roles reversing as he now tried to comfort her. "Four in one day, that's a lot of change. But it's okay. We're all friends already, we're going to help you through this, okay? You don't have to worry about us." He let go of her gently and stepped back, his arm still tingling. "These bonds make everyone pretty emotional, huh?"

She wiped her eyes and laughed slightly. "Yeah. It'll be like hormone city here, for a while. For all of us."

"Tony PMS'ing, we'll have to evacuate New York," Bruce joked. She giggled, and he beamed at her. "Come on," he offered, "let's go finish lunch."

They went back in the room, and no one said anything, only smiled. "Steve finished all the egg rolls," Tony complained.

Diana laughed.

After they finished eating, and Tony ordered another few pounds of food for Thor, who'd be hungry when he arrived, they settled back in the living room. "Oh, Pepper's going to want to meet you," Tony said. "She's actually here in the tower, but, she's in meetings all day and I don't want to disturb her."

"Oh, yeah, gotta tell Tasha," Clint muttered, pulling out his cell phone. "She's on her way back from a mission, and if she comes in late I want her to know about you beforehand."

"So, Natasha is," Diana started.

"Black Widow," Steve supplied.

"Right. Okay. Cool." She took a deep breath. Spy assassins were just a tad intimidating.

Clint reached over and patted her hand. "She's a little slow to trust, but it'll be okay. You're a civilian, right?"

"Yes, definitely."

"Tell us about yourself," Bruce suggested.

So Diana told them about her life, and her mom, and her degree in Liberal Arts, "hence all the Shakespeare quotes," she explained. And in return, they told her about their own lives and histories.

A distant thump interrupted Tony's monologue. "Thor's here!" he said, grinning.

They all got up from their seats, and when Thor came down, he was windswept and beaming. "JARVIS told me you have news of your soulmates," he said, his armor folding into nothingness as he placed the hammer gently on the counter.

"Yes we do," Steve said. "Thor, this is Diana Lawrence."

He bowed over her hand and smiled at her kindly. "Milady," he greeted her.

Tony and Clint howled with success and Steve and Bruce looked shocked. Diana smiled at the Asgardian. "I suppose now would be a good time to tell you we're probably soulmates," she said.

The Asgardian's jaw dropped, and he pulled off his jacket. On one forearm, there was a grey and faded symbol, signifying a soulmate who had died, and on the other arm, there was a fresh black symbol. "Are you a keeper of knowledge, by any chance?" he asked, trembling.

"You should _see_ the amount of books she has," Tony spoke up, still grinning gleefully.

Thor felt the answering tingle in his arm, and smiled. "It is you," he said, and swept her up in a giant bear hug. "I'm so glad," he said hoarsely. "I thought I would have to wait hundreds of years longer to find my other soulmate."

She hugged him back tightly. "You're not alone anymore," she promised him.

He set her back down after a moment, inspecting her, still grinning. "But how, if you are mine, where are the others JARVIS spoke of?"

"She's all of ours," Clint said. "She's got six marks. We're five of them."

Thor stared. "It is truly Yggdrasil's decree that we come together," he finally said, shaking his head. "I did not know why until now." He reached for her hand. "You are the key."

"I don't understand," Diana said, confused. She'd read the legends about the old world tree, but she didn't think that was what he was talking about.

"My father explained it to me this way," Thor said, sitting down next to her on the couch. "When the realms were created, there were certain, particles, shall we say that were sepearted by the force of creation. Over time these particles bonded with life, giving two beings a chance to literally become one combined force again, stronger than their components. In plants, it manifests as photosynthetic reactions. In sentient beings, as the first words they say to each other. Asgardians always believed it was a mark of the world trees affection for us, that it allowed us to become more than just ourselves, letting us know when we'd found part of ourselves in another." He gave her a fond smile. "You are the second, for me, and we will be great friends. Brother and sister, or closer than that."

"Your other soulmate was your romantic partner?" she asked softly.

"Yes." He touched the faded mark on his skin absently. "She died three thousand years ago, after a long and beautiful life."

They were quiet for a moment and then Tony asked, "But what about the other thing you said, that she was the key?"

"Ah yes. It was something I was thinking about. In normal circumstances, there would be no possible way that our team could band together. We are just too different. Without Coulson's death, we would have killed each other instead of defeating Loki. But there was always something drawing us together, keeping us together. By all rights, I should be in Asgard, Steve should be in the past, growing old, and the rest of you would be scattered across the Earth. But we are here. And do not tell me it does not feel different, now that she is here among us."

They all glanced at each other. "It does, kind of," Steve said, after a moment. "I feel more relaxed, more, at peace, even though Tony's sitting right next to me."

Tony scowled. "Hey!"

"Don't tell me you don't feel it," Clint said.

Tony quieted. "I guess, yes I do. That doesn't mean I'm going to stop bugging you," he warned Steve.

Steve grinned. "I wouldn't think of it," he said.

"So, Diana is the center of our team," Bruce said. "Does that mean Natasha will be the last key in our, what, our primordial super particle?"

"And once the bond is formed, what happens then?" Steve asked.

Thor shook his head. "Nothing dangerous. I have a feeling that we will just be stronger. We were a team before, now we will be better, more in tune with each other."

"It's not going to get weird, is it?" Tony asked, after a second. "I mean, we'll all be, like, one step removed from being soulmated ourselves."

"It's only weird if you make it weird, Tony," Bruce said, rolling his eyes.

Clint shook his head. "Natasha needs to get back here right now. I want to see if she's the last one."

Diana leaned back against the couch. "When is she getting back?"

"Who knows. We're usually on radio silence till we get home."

"So what do we do now?"

"We wait," Steve answered.

"Sir, Miss Potts has ended her meetings for the day," JARVIS announced. "She is on her way up."

"Yay!" Tony smiled gleefully.

Diana got nervous again. Meeting another soulmate of a person you were attached to was always tricky, especially if the other person was a romantic soulmate. They could be jealous, or reject them on the mate's behalf. It was always a tricky business.

"Do not worry," Thor said, giving her a warm smile. "She will not be jealous."

"She'll probably be relieved someone else will be around to calm him down," Clint added, smirking.

The doors to the elevator opened, and Tony gave Pepper a kiss. "Welcome home," he said, wrapping an arm around her waist.

She wrapped her own arm around his waist. "What's all the excitement about?" she asked, glancing at the others. "Who's this?"

Tony beamed. "Pepper, this is Diana. She's my other soulmate."

"Oh, you're the one who says brother's keeper," Pepper said, smiling. She reached out and gave Diana a hug. "It's so nice to meet you."

"You too," Diana said, returning the hug.

"I'm so glad you're a girl, too," Pepper said, "it'll even out all the testosterone around here." She grinned teasingly at the other guys.

"About that," Steve said, "she's also mine."

"And mine," they all chorused.

Pepper's eyes widened, and she looked at Diana. "Wow."

"Yeah."

"I've never heard of that happening before," Pepper said slowly. "That's incredible."

"We're just barely getting used to it ourselves," Clint said, hugging Diana gently. "Now all we have to do is wait for Natasha to get home and see if she's the sixth one."

"What if she's not?" Pepper asked innocently.

They all shared a glance. "We never thought of that," Tony said slowly.

"She has to be," Steve reasoned. "Natasha is a total lone wolf. It's a miracle she even trusts any of us besides Clint. There's no way she would have stayed this long without another reason."

"That's true," Clint said. "Ever since SHIELD disappeared, I thought she would've gone off, but she hasn't." He smiled at Diana. "And now we know why."

"Don't get your hopes up too much," Bruce warned. "Just in case."

"And even if she's not, I'll love her like a sister anyways," Diana promised Clint.

He smiled. "Thanks."

"Now," Tony said, holding up a handful of controllers. "Who's up for a game or two?"

They played Mario Kart and Super Mario Bros for a few hours, had a dinner of pizza and beer, and then, reluctantly, everyone scattered to their own apartments to sleep. Diana retired to her own apartment to take a shower, and she changed into pajamas. It was strange, knowign that only a few feet away in any direction, were her soulmates. She could almost feel them through the walls, on her skin.

She couldn't sleep. It was two in the morning and she'd read Treasure Island and was halfway through All Creatures Great and Small. She finally gave it up and decided to go get a snack.

Her kitchen was empty, and she made a note with JARVIS to get it stocked later. That was just another strangeness in her life now. All the reading she'd done had never really prepared her for the complete one-eighty her life had taken.

She found some chamomile tea in the common room kitchen, and put some water to boil. JARVIS obligingly put on late-night infomercials for her. "Mr. Stark usually prefers the gadgets channel," he said, sotto voce.

"Thanks, JARVIS," she said, sipping her tea. She let the commercials for "moon boots" drone on pleasantly, and felt herself falling asleep.

"Sleepless night?" a woman's voice asked, from directly behind her.

"Sleep, that knits up the raveled sleeve of care," Diana quoted drowsily. The stiff gasp from behind her made her turn. "You must be Natasha," she told the red-haired woman, who looked like she'd just been punched in the gut. She smiled. "Clint said you'd be getting in late." This was it. She was complete. Her hip tingled with the words.

"You're..."

"Yeah. We figured it might be you."

Natasha shook her head, determined not to believe it. "Show me."

Diana obligingly tugged down the waistband of her pajama bottoms an inch, letting Natasha read the words written on her hip. "And yours?" she asked.

Natasha silently pulled up her shirt. The words were written sideways down the curve of her abdomen.

Diana smiled. "Shakespeare. He's got a quote for everything."

"Yeah," Natasha said, stunned. She reached out to touch Diana's arm. "Were you waiting up?"

"Kind of?" Diana confessed. "I wanted to see if it really was you. And, well, finding all six of my soulmates in one day was unsettling."

"I suppose it would be," Natasha said, sitting across from Diana. "Did Clint tell you about me and him?"

"Yes," Diana said, smiling. "How did the two of you find out about it?"

Natasha smiled briefly. "He was sent to kill me. He didn't know we were soulmates of course. So there we were, face to face after three months of hide and seek, his arrow in my face and my gun in his, when he just sort of, looked at me. Then he said, "I can help you." I asked, "Help me how?" That's when he dropped his aim, and put his arrow away. I was so confused. I didn't remember my birthmark, after so many years of not finding either of them, and I almost killed him right then and there. But my hip was burning, and then he said, with that stupid grin, "You're not supposed to kill your soulmates." And that's when I knew."

"So he brought you into SHIELD," Diana said softly, reaching out to squeeze her hand.

Natasha stared at their joined hands with a surprised look, and then relaxed. "Yes. Fury couldn't get rid of me without getting rid of Clint, so he put us together as a team. I considered myself lucky that I'd encountered one of my soulmates, my brother, but I never thought I'd find my Shakespeare quote."

"Thor says that soulmates are particles destined to re-bond," Diana remarked.

The Russian smirked. "Sounds like something he'd say."

"Yeah."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "How'd you figure it out that the two of you were platonic?"

"He didn't tell you he was married?"

"No."

"Oh. He's married. I can tell you, since you, we, are all soulmates." Natasha's brow wrinkled. "This is going to be, different."

"Tell me about it," Diana said. "Apparently I'm the nucleus of your superhero-ness."

"Makes sense. It explains why we haven't killed each other by now. Tony and Steve, those two, honestly."

"I gathered that," Diana said. She grinned at her newest soulmate. "So. Tell me what it's like being the only sensible one among the guys."

Natasha smiled. "Well..."


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Yay chapter two! More fluff, more bonding, some angst. See Chap 1 for disclaimer.**

The next morning, Clint found his two soulmates curled up on opposite ends of the couch, sound asleep. He grinned, and ruffled both of their hair at the same time, and flinched from the twin smacks on the arm. "Ow."

"Clint, go away," Natasha grumbled, retreating under her blanket.

"No way, the others'll be up soon."

She rolled off the couch and went to her apartment to shower and change.

"Diana?" Clint asked, poking the sleeping girl.

She grumbled. "No."

"Yes. Come on." He picked her up off the couch and carried her to her own apartment. "Steve's making breakfast today. He's a really good cook."

"Ungh."

He grinned. "Don't tell me my soulmate isn't a morning person," he teased.

"Don't tell me you're all morning people," she retorted, curling up under her covers.

"Oh, there's no way I'm a morning person," he said, smirking. "I just get up early when Cap's cooking."

The blanket shifted slightly. "Why didn't you tell me you were married?"

He sobered and sat down next to her on the side of the bed. "I didn't want to say anything in front of the others."

"Why not?" Her head poked out of the blanket.

"Before SHIELD broke up, I was one of their top agents," he said. "I didn't want anyone to find out and take advantage of me by harming my family. The only people who knew were Director Fury, Coulson, and Natasha." He patted her arm. "And now you."

"Are you going to tell the others?" she asked. "If they ask, I can't lie." You couldn't lie to your soulmates. You could lie to yourself, to others, but not to your soulmates.

"I'll tell 'em," he decided. "But now, breakfast."

She groaned and got up, yawning. "Fine. But if I'm cranky later, it's your fault."

"I'll take it," he said, smiling. He let himself out.

She appeared in the living room twenty minutes later, wearing a pair of jeans and a green T-shirt, her wet hair braided. "Good morning," she said, to all seven of them, since Pepper hadn't gone to work yet. She got herself a cup of coffee from the industrial-sized coffeepot, and mixed in plenty of milk and sugar. She turned to find them all still looking at her. "What?" she finally asked.

"Just looking," Tony said.

She sat down in between Thor and Natasha. They were still looking at her. "What?"

"Just making sure this is for real," Steve assured her.

Diana laughed slightly. "It still hasn't sunk in yet, for me, either. It's weird."

"Told ya it'd be weird," Tony said.

Pepper subtly poked him in the ribs. "So," she said, "what do we have to do today?"

"Well it's Saturday, so no one has work," Steve said, taking the lead as usual. He glanced at Diana. "We can get your apartment furnished the way you want it. And, you said you wanted to tell your mom, and we think it'd be nice to bring her here, and have her meet us all at once."

Diana nodded. "First things first, I don't have any money-"

Six voices interrupted her. "We've got it," they all chorused. Pepper spoke after them. "Trust me, we've enough money," she assured her.

Diana blushed. "I don't want to-"

"You've got to," Tony said. "Let us spoil you."

She ducked her head. "Okay." She took a sip of her coffee. "And second of all, I'll call my mom after breakfast."

They ate breakfast and Diana offered to help clean up.

"No, no, you go call your mom," Tony insisted. "Go on. We got this."

So she did. "Hi mom."

"Diana, hello! How's your job going?"

"Uh, good, it's going good. I uh, guess what?"

"You're going to come over tomorrow and hang out with your poor old mother?"

"Not quite. I, uh, found my soulmates, and they want to meet you, so, can you come over for dinner?" She winced at her own poor phrasing.

There was a silence on the other end.

"Mom?" Diana asked, a bit worried. "You there?"

"You found them?" her mother asked, sounding somewhat teary.

"Yeah, yeah I did." She smiled fondly at the six Avengers as they cleaned the kitchen. "All of them, in one day."

"How does that work?"

"They're, uh, they're all a team. Listen, it's really complicated. I want to explain in person."

"Oh, okay, should I come over to your place?"

"Um, no. I moved."

"What?"

"Yeah, it's fine, I moved in with them. They really want to meet you, and so, can you come over?"

Tony stage-whispered, "I can have Happy pick her up."

Diana nodded. "Someone's going to pick you up, okay? It's totally fine, his name's Happy."

"Okay..."

"I'll see you at like, four, is that okay? I know it's your errand-day." Diana paced in a tight circle, trying to calm her nerves.

"Yes, that's fine," her mom said. "Oh honey, I'm so happy for you! Are they nice?"

"Yeah, they are, they've all been super-amazing and we're all getting along great."

"Good. Good. I'll, see you at four then."

"Okay mom. I love you."

"Love you too, sweet-pea."

Diana hung up and rubbed her palms together nervously. "Oh my goodness. My mom's coming over at four and I still have to decorate my place so it doesn't look weird and we have to actually make something to eat and-" She was promptly engulfed in a hug which quelled her pacing.

"Shh," Steve said calmly, rubbing her back. "It'll be okay. I'm sure the most important thing for your mom is that you're safe and happy with your soulmates. We're not going to let you down, okay?"

She nodded into his shoulder. "Okay. 'S good. I'm calm."

"Okay." He stepped back, still holding onto her shoulders lightly. He gave her a soft smile. "Ready to go shopping?"

"Yeah. Let's do this."

They had to take two cars. Steve, Natasha, Thor, and Diana rode in one, and Tony, Pepper, Clint, and Bruce rode in the other. They agreed to split up and meet in forty five minutes at the front.

"Favorite colors?" Pepper asked, before they split.

"Uh, I don't know. I like 'em all, really. Just, stuff that'll go with the walls in my apartment, I really like the color scheme."

"All right." Pepper said, glancing at the others to make sure they heard.

Clint nodded. "This'll be like an exercise in team-building. We can get a feel for your likes and dislikes."

"Let's go," Steve said, and they all scattered. Not surprisingly, Pepper and Natasha stuck with Diana.

The women picked out a wonderfully comfortable armchair/recliner/personal bubble of happiness and reading, a throw blanket to match, some frames for a few of Diana's pictures, and wall decorations for the rest of the apartment.

Forty five minutes passed quickly, and the Avengers regrouped in the front of the store. Diana saw their picks, and started to laugh.

"Really, guys?" Natasha asked, as the guys grinned sheepishly, carts loaded with stuff.

The picks ranged from book shelves to area rugs to storage containers, candles, kitchen ware, and more bookshelves. And surprisingly, it was all in good taste. Diana ended up choosing most of it, and out of all the gag gifts the guys had slipped in, she kept the giant stuffed animal that was larger than she was. Tony was therefore insufferable for the rest of the day. For some reason, Pepper thought it was hilarious.

After some thought, she also kept the green Hulk bathrobe. "It's fluffy," she explained, and when no one was looking, she smiled at Bruce. He smiled back.

They swooped down on one of the checkout lines, and Tony pulled out his credit card.

Diana winced with each thing scanned. The only one that noticed was Tony, since he was waiting to pay and the others were using their strength and skills to pack everything into boxes and bags. "Hey, listen," he said, taking her hand, "you have to believe me when I say that what we're getting today isn't anything."

She glanced at the register doubtfully.

"I'm serious," he said. "I'm a billionaire, remember? I earn three times as much as this receipt every hour. And whatever I spend on this, and on clothes and stuff, is completely worth it. Just think of today as your welcome-into-our-lives party. No guilt attached."

She nodded. "Okay. I can live with that."

"Good, because we're going to a fancy restaurant for lunch. They have the best scallops in the state and unlimited breadsticks for our two food vacuums." He smirked as the giant koala bear was swiped off. "Are you going to name it?"

Diana smirked back at him. "Well I'm not naming it 'Tony' if that's what you're thinking."

"Why not?" he asked, pouting.

"Pepper says your ego is bad enough and I'm under strict orders not to name it after anyone in the team."

He slung his arm over her shoulders casually. "Okay, so what are you going to name it?"

"I was thinking, Hamlet."

"Seriously?"

"What? It's my favorite, and it's what Steve quoted from."

Tony glanced at the aforementioned Capsicle, who was currently muscling a load of bookshelves onto a cart for home delivery later. "You like him?" Tony asked, glancing back to Diana.

She blushed. "He's one of my soulmates, I can't not like him."

"A double negative, and you a Liberal Arts major. Shame on you," Tony mock scolded. "And you didn't answer my question."

"I don't know," she said, still blushing. "I've got bonds forming with six people at a time, I'm just kind of loving everybody right now."

Tony let the subject drop, but privately he was convinced it was Steve who was her romantic partner. They had that spark that reminded Tony of himself and Pepper. Plus, every time Steve spoke directly to Diana, they kind of entered their own little bubble. He decided to consult Natasha, who was probably already aware of this.

They finally got everything squared away and headed to Marisco's for lunch. They weren't really dressed for it, but it was Tony Stark and the Avengers, so, of course, they got a table in the back, away from prying eyes. There were paparazzi lingering outside when they finished eating, and without even speaking, the Avengers formed a protective block around Diana, shielding her from the cameras snapping away.

Steve handed her into the car, and got in after her. "You okay?" he asked, needing to reassure himself.

She smiled at him and closed her eyes, leaning against the back of the seat. "Just remembering that you're all famous. Also, I'm so full from lunch, I'm going into a food coma. Don't mind me."

"Food coma?"

"You know, after Thanksgiving dinner, everyone sits and watches the game, looking like a lethargic pod of beached whales because everyone ate too much." She yawned.

Tony snickered from the front seat as they pulled away from the curb. "I should've cut you off after your fourth bread stick."

"They were so good," she sighed.

Pepper leaned her seat back slightly. "Ugh, me too. Why did I let you talk me into having dessert?"

"Because it was amazing?" Tony offered.

"Yep."

They hit traffic, and both women dozed on the way home. Diana leaned against Steve's shoulder, and he ended up wrapping an arm around her so she wouldn't fall over. "What should we make for your mom?" he asked, once she'd woken up a bit.

Her eyes widened. "I don't know. Anything? My mom loves all kinds of food."

"We could order in," Tony suggested.

"It'll be more special if it's homemade," Pepper said.

"What about lasagna?"

The afternoon passed too quickly, in between decorating Diana's apartment and prepping lasagna for nine people, and Diana barely had time to shower and dress before her mom was arriving downstairs. She had JARVIS speed the elevator down to the lobby.

"Hi mom!" she said, giving her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

Her mom returned the affection in a daze. "This is Avengers Tower," she said.

"Yes it is."

"You live here?"

"Yep."

"The apartment you were in before?"

"Probably rented out by now."

"So now you're renting from Iron Man?"

Diana blinked. They hadn't discussed rent. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Don't tell me he's your soulmate."

Diana coughed, trying to feign nonchalance. "What if he was?"

"Then I'd be very worried about you," her mother replied. "How did you find them all in one day, anyways?"

"Uh..."

At that moment, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. "This way," Diana said, whispering 'thank you' to JARVIS as she followed her mom off the lift.

She led the way into the common area, and stifled a smile when she saw all of them waiting nervously, trying to be casual. Even the super-spies were failing at it, this time. "Guys, this is my mom. Mom, this is Steve, Bruce, Thor, Tony, Clint, and Natasha. This is Pepper, she's Tony's romantic partner, and ah, Clint and Natasha are also soulmated to each other."

"It's an honor to meet you, Mrs. Lawrence," Steve said, extending a hand. "We're all incredibly happy to have Diana here with us."

Mrs. Lawrence ignored his hand, still staring in shock at the group. "You mean to tell me, your soulmates, are all superheroes?" she asked, her voice high-pitched with stress.

Diana frowned. "Yes..."

"Are you sure this isn't some sort of mistake? Is this a prank?"

"I assure you, Mrs. Lawrence, there has been no mistake, and no jest," Thor said firmly. "We are her soulmates. If you wish to confirm the words on our bodies, you may."

"No, no, I believe you," Mrs. Lawrence finally said, and everyone heaved a sigh of relief. "It's just a little surprising."

"You're telling me," Diana said lightly, trying to remember how to breathe normally, now she had her mother's approval. "I almost had a heart attack when Steve came up to me and said those words."

"Which one did he say?" her mother asked.

"Heaven and earth," Diana replied.

Mrs. Lawrence smiled. "And then what happened?"

Before too long, they'd all pitched in, telling the story from all points of view. It was hectic, and hilarious, and absolutely fantastic. Their retelling of events ended at the same time the oven timers went off, and Mrs. Lawrence smiled as everyone moved to set up the table.

"Been here one day and already they're seamless," she murmured, shaking her head.

Pepper, the only one who hadn't joined the fray, heard her and smiled. "It's pretty incredible to see it happen. They all care very much for Diana, and so do I. These people, they'd move the world for your daughter. It's in the nature of the bond."

Mrs. Lawrence nodded distractedly. "I suppose it is."

Dinner was fantastic, and afterwards Diana took her mom on a tour of her apartment and the common floors.

"All right," Mrs. Lawrence said, as they headed downstairs. "I'm convinced. You're going to be happy here. Just remember, don't get too lost in your books to neglect them."

"I won't." She smiled sheepishly. "Or rather, I'll try not to."

"Uh-huh. I know you, kiddo. You'd rather read than eat."

"Yeah, but the thing is, they're _all_ kind of obsessive. With science, or missions, or whatever. I think that maybe I can complement them that way, help draw them out."

Mrs. Lawrence hugged her tightly. "I'm so happy for you. Just don't forget your old mum, kay?"

"Never,' Diana promised. "I'll call you Saturday."

"All right. Behave!"

"I will."

Happy escorted her mom to the car and Diana went up to the living room again. She sunk into the couch with a sigh, and leaned against Thor's side. "Tired?" he asked kindly, wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah." She smiled at everyone. "Thank you for today. I really appreciate you making my mom happy. She was afraid you might be ruffians, or something."

"Ruffians?" Tony said teasingly.

Diana smiled. "You know what I mean."

"You should write our press releases," Clint said, grinning. "Breaking news, the Avengers defeat a band of scruffy ruffians."

Thor laughed. "Indeed. Most of the people we fight cannot be classified as true villains."

Diana smiled and let the banter wash over her. "I think I'm going to bed. Night."

"Good night," everyone chorused.

She brushed her teeth and settled down to sleep, content. All was right with the world.

Diana woke up, eyes wide and gasping. Something was wrong, but not with her. "JARVIS, is something wrong?" she asked quietly, trying to calm her racing heart.

"Nothing with the Tower, miss. But Captain Rogers is having a nightmare."

She got up, determined to help him, and stop that awful feeling in her chest. She knocked on his bedroom door. "Steve?" No reply. She went in.

He was on his side, curled into himself, whimpering and shaking. Sweat shined off his forehead in the moonlight. "No," he whispered, flailing slightly. "No, Buck, no!"

She knelt in front of him. "Steve," she said, touching his arm lightly. "Wake up, come on, it's just a nightmare." Then she remembered that it wasn't good to wake people up during nightmares, and retracted her arm. Different tactic. She went around to the other side of the bed and sat behind him, and began carding her fingers through the messy blond hair. Her mom would do that when she had nightmares. "Shh," she crooned. "It's okay, it's okay, you're all right, shh, relax."

Slowly, his twitching and muttering stopped, and he began to relax, unfolding from his curled up position. He turned and scooted closer to her. He was freezing, the sweat on his body cooling him down. "So, cold," he whispered, and his teeth actually began to chatter. He'd went from one nightmare to another.

She pulled the blanket over him and tucked him in, still stroking his hair and talking to him calmly. "JARVIS, turn the heat up in here," she requested.

"Yes miss."

She scooted down to press a kiss to his forehead. "It's okay, you're warm, you're safe," she whispered into his ear.

He finally opened his eyes, groggy and disoriented. "Wha-"

"It's okay," she assured him, touching his cheek. "You're okay, you're safe, it was just a bad dream."

"I'm so cold," he said, still shivering.

"It's okay, Steve, it's all right." She pulled him into a sitting position. "Come on. Let's go get warm. Come on." She tugged him off the bed and led his shivering, pitiful form to the couch in his living room, and wrapped him up in blankets. "I'm going to make us some tea, okay?"

He nodded, still partly asleep, trying to fight off the dregs of his flashbacks.

She made some tea quickly and handed it to him, and took a cup for herself. "Are you awake now?" she asked quietly, sitting across from him on the couch, watching him carefully.

He nodded, breathing in the steam gratefully. "I was dreaming, about Bucky," he said, trying to explain himself. "I'm not usually so-"

"Hey," she interrupted, reaching out to him. "You don't have to justify your nightmares to me. It is perfectly normal to have bad dreams."

He took a deep breath, and took a sip of tea. "I miss him."

"Tell me about him," she requested. "What was he like?"

"He was great," Steve said, smiling faintly. "We were neighbors. He was always looking out for me. For all intents and purposes, he really was my older brother."

She listened to him talk, and when he started talking about how Bucky had died, or rather almost died, they both got teary-eyed. "I thought he was dead," Steve said, "and I refused to look at the words on my side because I thought they'd fade, and I couldn't handle that. And when the plane was going down, I thought-"

"You thought what's the point?" Diana finished, reaching out to embrace him.

"I'm sorry," he said, hugging her tightly. "I almost gave you up."

She pressed her cheek to his. "It's all right. It was war. I wasn't even born yet. And you came back, you woke up."

"I did," he said. "And the first time I took a shower and looked at myself in the mirror, I braced myself for two grey marks. I thought I would be alone. But your marks were still there, still black. I thought it was a mistake, that because I was frozen they didn't fade. I lived for months in fear that they'd fade. But they didn't, and Thor told me that it was because you were still out there. And then I found Bucky again."

"The Winter Soldier," she said, remembering the story that they'd told her the day before.

"Yes. He didn't remember me at all, until the very end, when he almost killed me, but instead he saved my life. He's still out there, somewhere. I'm still looking for him." He smiled at her. "And then, just by accident, I found you."

"Yes you did," she said happily, hugging him again. She touched his side gently. "Can I see your words? I just realized, I've seen everyone's except yours."

"Sure." He pulled his shirt off and let her look. He started to grin as she blushed. "What?"

"Super-soldier serum," she said, blushing fiercely. "Goodness."

His cheeks flushed faintly. "I, uh, yeah."

She reached out to trace the words written on his ribs. "I bet you got a lot of flack for this," she said, smiling lightly.

"Tony almost had a fit when we were training and he saw it," Steve said, grinning. "He thought I was more arrogant than he was, having it right on my abs. But when I explained it was my soulmark, he eased off."

"Good." She pressed a final warm hand to his mark and turned to the other one. "Need some help, punk?" she read aloud, smirking. "Let me guess, this was while you were getting your butt handed to you."

"Oh yeah. A skinny little four year old, and then he swooped in and knocked out the bully."

"What did you reply?" she asked.

"I had 'em on the run, jerk," he recalled.

She laughed. "I would've loved to see that. You must've been tiny. Tiny, asthmatic, you were probably adorable."

He blushed at that. "I don't know."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek and handed him his pajama shirt. "Here. Do you feel better?"

He nodded. Usually nightmares left him drained and exhausted, but now he actually felt refreshed, and calm. "Yes I do. Thank you, for being there."

"Anytime," she said, standing up and taking his tea mug. "Are you going to go back to sleep?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be okay."

"Okay." She gave him a final quick hug. "Goodnight, Steve."

"Goodnight."

She went back to her apartment, and fell asleep, thinking about a pre-serum Steve. She really wanted to see a picture.

The next morning, Diana arrived at breakfast in her pajamas and her Hulk robe. "Good morning," she said cheerfully, kissing Bruce on the cheek and hugging Thor. The scientist was halfway through his second cup of coffee, and the Asgardian was halfway through a box of pop-tarts. "No breakfast?" she asked.

"Steve's not up yet and the super spies are pretending to kill each other in the gym," Bruce said tiredly. "Pepper left an hour ago and Tony's in the lab."

"Steve is not up yet?" Thor asked, surprised. "Usually he is coming back from his morning run."

"He had a nightmare last night," Diana said. "I stayed up with him, talking about it. He's probably still tired."

"How did you hear him?" Bruce asked curiously. "Usually I can't even hear him when he's having one, and our rooms are pretty close."

Diana shrugged. "I just, sort of felt it in my chest. Like, I knew something was wrong, and I woke up. JARVIS told me what it was, and I went to calm him down."

"That is a strong bond after only two days," Thor observed, raising an eyebrow. "I wonder if it will be that strong with the rest of us."

"Can you tell if anything's going on right now?" Bruce asked.

Diana closed her eyes and concentrated. "I don't know. I don't feel any different, just hungry. I think everyone's okay." She opened her eyes and gave them a brief smile. "Anyways, who wants breakfast? I can make a mean omelet."

Bruce perked up at the mention of food. "You can cook?"

"Yep."

"I will help," Thor volunteered.

They got busy making about a dozen omelets, and by the time Steve shuffled in, still wearing pajamas, Tony had dragged himself out of the lab and the others were already starting to eat.

"Morning Steve," Diana said, handing him a plate. "Sleep well?"

"Yes I did," he said, smiling at her. "Thank you."

"Anytime," she said.

They all ate, complimenting her cooking, and as they were finishing up, Natasha said, "If you want, we can go shopping today. I finished all my work."

"Uh, yeah, sure," Diana said, surprised. She grinned. "Just to warn you, I'm a horrible shopping companion and my feet always get tired as soon as I get into the mall."

Clint smirked. "You haven't been shopping with Natasha. She can sniff out the sales a mile away, and she always finds the best fit. It's like going shopping with a bloodhound. It's hardcore. We're always in and out within a couple hours."

"Totally painless," Natasha promised her. "It'll be fun. We can get a manicure."

Diana couldn't resist her soulmate's persuasive eyes. "Oh, fine, let's go."

Natasha smiled. "Great. Get some clothes on."

"All right."

"We'll clean up," Bruce said, snagging Tony before he left.

"Oh come on," Tony grumbled.

The mall was actually really fun. Natasha let down her guard with her sister-soulmate and the two of them got some good quality bonding in. They found plenty of clothes, and Natasha made sure that Diana got some fancy dresses and evening wear. "Stark makes us go to all his parties," Natasha explained. "It's good press for the Avengers, and we need all we can get."

"Yeah," Diana said, holding a dark blue dress against herself in the mirror. "What do you think?"

"Try it on," Natasha encouraged. "I think it'll look nice."

So she tried it on and found that yes, it fit perfectly.

"Gorgeous," Natasha commented, when Diana came out to show her.

"You think so?" Diana asked, pleased.

"Yes I do." Natasha grinned. "Wear this to one of those parties and the men will be falling over themselves to dance with you. We'll find out real quick who's your romantic soulmate."

Diana blushed.

"It's got to be either Steve or Bruce," Natasha said, "and I'm pretty sure it's not Bruce."

"Well..."

"Yeah?" Natasha asked kindly.

"I feel different with him," Diana said. "With the rest of you, our bond is warm, and soft, but with Steve, it's like, it's like electricity. And, I think I've bonded with him more strongly. It might just be because he was the first one I met, but I don't know if that's really it."

"Well there's one way to tell," Natasha said, amused.

"What?"

"You could kiss him," she suggested.

Diana turned beet red. "No way."

Natasha shrugged. "All right, whatever. At least I know why he never agreed to go out on a date."

"You tried to find him a date?" Diana asked, smirking. "How'd he take that?"

"I'm too busy," she said, deepening her voice to imitate him. "I have countries to save, there's no time for dating. No, I can't talk to girls, I'm too awkward. I'm Captain America, God bless democracy."

They both broke up laughing.

They finished their day at a salon and got their nails done.

"So what do you think?" Natasha asked, as they were driving home. "Your feet hurt?"

Diana shook her head. "Nope. I think this is the best shopping expedition I've ever had. You are definitely a superhero."

Natasha smirked in reply. "Should we be nice and bring the guys food?"

"Probably."

"Whoa, did you buy out the whole mall?" Tony asked, as the girls came in lugging their purchases.

Diana held up her bags. "Most of these are takeout baggies. So unless you want to starve, come help me."

Tony jumped off the couch and went to help her. "Oh wonderful and glorious soulmate," he gushed, carting the takeout to the table. "JARVIS, tell the rest food's here."

"Yes sir."

Diana and Natasha went to put their things away, and Diana came back in pajamas. Thor waved her over to sit next to him, and she grinned as he batted the others' hands away to get the Subway sandwich that she wanted.

They ate and then afterwards, Tony suggested, "Let's watch a movie."

"Something from Steve's list," Natasha added.

"List?" Diana asked.

He pulled out a small notebook. "I'm making a list of things to catch up on. I've been working through it for a couple of years."

"What kind of movies you have on there?"

"Uh, the next one's _Andromeda Strain_."

Diana scoffed. "The book is better."

They all glanced at her.

"What?" she asked. "It's true. The movie was way too slow, and it didn't have the right ending. Pretty much the same for all of Michael Crichton's books. _Timeline_ the movie didn't even mention the parallel universes, and that was the whole point of being able to time travel. Oh! We should watch Jurassic Park! That's a good one. It's actually better than the book, because in the novel everyone ends up dying. Have you seen it yet? There's three of them." She frowned at them. "Why are you all smiling?"

"Because you're adorable when you're babbling," Tony said frankly, smirking. "Natasha, did you spike her drink?"

"As if."

"I'm just telling it like it is," Diana defended herself.

"No, I haven't watched Jurassic Park," Steve said, and that was that. They adjourned to the media room.

Diana sat in the middle of the long couch, and suddenly everyone was jostling to sit next to her. She ended up sitting between Thor and Bruce, Tony next to his Science Bro, Steve on the floor next to Diana's legs, and Natasha and Clint on the other couch. "You sure you don't want a chair?" Diana asked Steve.

He shook his head. "No I'm okay here." He leaned his head against the edge of the couch cushion, subtly resting against her knee.

"JARVIS, start the movie," Tony ordered.

Jurassic Park came on, and everyone lost themselves in the classic Spielberg film. Diana ended up falling asleep halfway through on Thor's shoulder, and instead of taking her to her room, they just let her sleep. It was through proximity that their bonds with their soulmates formed, and no one on the team wanted to let her go.

Finally at the end of the movie, people started moving. Diana woke up when Tony accidentally dropped a bowl of popcorn, and dragged herself to her feet. "Night, all," she muttered.

There were hugs and 'night's' all around, and she shuffled off to bed. She had work tomorrow.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Shorter chapter this time.**

The next morning, there was no one in the common rooms. "J, where's everyone?" Diana asked.

"Miss Potts and Mr Stark are in a business meeting, Dr. Banner is still sleeping, and the rest are in the training room for their pre-breakfast workout."

"Thanks, J." She toasted some frozen waffles and had a cup of coffee before heading down to the gym to say goodbye. She stopped in the doorway of the training room, watching her four soulmates spar against each other. It was incredible, the way they moved, their actions graceful, even though, like Steve and Thor, they were huge and solid.

Clint caught sight of her and got distracted, earning him a sharp smack in the head by his partner. "Ow."

"You okay?" she asked.

He gave her a Look, and surprisingly, signed something.

Natasha scowled and signed something back.

Steve stopped grappling with Thor and glanced over at them. "Did you break your hearing aids again?" he asked.

Clint gave him a Look.

"Hearing aids?" Diana asked, eyes widening.

Everyone whirled to look at her, and Clint gave her that guilty puppy-eyed look from two days ago, when she'd found out about his marriage.

"You didn't tell her?" Natasha asked, smacking him again, irritated, before she signed her question to him.

He shrugged. "One fell out and the other's crackling," he said, speaking normally.

"Sorry," Natasha said.

He squeezed her arm lightly. "I was distracted, it's fine."

"It is a good thing you had Tony make you a thousand of those devices for common use," Thor said, chuckling. "You go through them faster than Steve does running shoes."

Clint laughed when Natasha signed the interpretation to him. He went to the lockers on the side of the wall and pulled out a new set of hearing aids in a little case. He clicked them on, and put them in his ears. "All good," he said, giving them a thumbs up. He glanced at Diana, who was still standing there silently.

"Anyways," she said, deciding to leave that discussion for later, "I'm going to work. If I don't leave now I'll be late."

"Have a good day," Steve said.

"Be careful," Thor added.

"I'll join you for lunch," Natasha offered.

"I'll walk you out," Clint said, and it sounded like a request.

She got in the elevator with him and turned to him. "Do you not trust me?" she asked.

He winced. "Straight to the point. Ouch. Your aim is better than mine."

"Answer the question," she said firmly, starting to get a little angry. "Or did you not think your hearing loss was something important enough to tell your soulmate about?"

Clint looked even more guilty. "Diana, I'm sorry," he started, running a hand through his short hair. "I do trust you. It's just, we've all been together the whole time, and I couldn't find a time to tell you, and I thought maybe it wasn't such a big deal and-" He sighed. "And no one wants to depend on a soulmate with a disability."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Clearly Nat knocked you harder on the head than I thought. Or have you forgotten that she is definitely dependent on you, as a soulmate and as as a crime-fighting partner?"

"I meant, non-fighters," he said.

"So you thought that if I knew you were disabled that I would reject you?" she asked.

He winced and dropped his gaze.

She knew he'd had a bad childhood. From their stories yesterday, she knew all of the Avengers had terrible childhoods, full of abuse, poverty, or unloved. And being deaf probably made it worse for Clint. "Listen," she said, cupping his cheek, forcing him to look up at her. "I am not going to reject you. I don't care if you're deaf. That just makes you more special. I don't know if you've noticed, but this is a two way street. You help me, and I help you. If that just means carrying a spare set of hearing aids all the time, then perfect. I don't know if you've noticed, but the only thing I'm actually good at is editing papers. So don't go thinking you're useless. Got it?"

He gave her a tentative grin. "Got it."

"This doesn't mean I'm not still mad," she warned, still slightly steamed that he hadn't told her earlier. "Any other major life things you want to tell me now? Incurable disease? Moving to another country soon?"

"I'm six months away from having a third kid?" he said. "Does that count?"

She grinned. "Okay. Seriously, I have to meet your family."

"I'll take you one of these days," he promised.

"You will be late if you don't leave now," JARVIS announced.

Diana stepped out of the elevator. "Okay. Gotta go." She hesitated a second, and then hugged Clint tightly. "For the record, if you weren't a superhero, and you were completely deaf, or blind, or useless, or whatever, I'd care for you all the same," she said. She kissed his cheek. "You'll have to teach me sign language. Bye!" And she was off to catch the train.

Clint smiled after her, and rode the elevator back up to the training room.

"You in trouble?" Natasha asked.

"No."

"I told you she wouldn't be happy if you didn't tell her."

"Shut up Nat."

"You first."

Diana's day at work was so normal it was surreal. And by lunchtime, she was heartily misssing her soulmates. She walked out of the building, trying to decide what to get for lunch. Her phone rang. "Hello?"

"Hi!" said Steve's voice. "Where are you?"

"Just outside my office, I'm going for lunch," Diana said. "Why?"

"Look across the street."

She looked, and saw six people waving. She laughed. "Really?" She turned off the phone and walked over to them. "What are you all doing here?" She hugged them all.

"We missed you," Tony said frankly. "And we brought lunch." He held up a pizza box.

"There's a fountain a block down," Diana said, grinning.

They had pizza straight from the boxes, and Diana told them about the articles she was working on. After half an hour, she stood up. "I hate to say this, but it's back to work."

Everyone sighed and stood up. "We'll see you back home then," Steve said, kissing her cheek.

"All right." She hugged them all goodbye, and Nat walked with her to the door. "See you later."

"Yep."

Diana went back to work, and as soon as she sat at her desk her boss came in.

"Diana, good, you're back. Jess is out sick with the flu and we've got to cover her web articles. And Mark just got dumped over voicemail so he's useless right now. Can you proofread these and get 'em back to me by midnight?" She dumped a stack of papers on the desk.

Diana sighed. "Yeah. Of course."

"Thank you so much. You're getting overtime, by the way."

"Yay." Diana picked up the first article.

At 6 o'clock her phone rang. It was Natasha. "When are you coming back?" Nat asked instantly.

"Uh, at this rate, never," Diana said, sighing. "We got a ton of extra work to do, and I have a midnight deadline. I might be done around ten."

"All right. Me and Clint'll come pick you up at ten, then."

"Nat, you don't have to-"

"Yes, I do. There's no way we're letting you walk around the city after dark, alone. Especially not before we've taught you self-defense moves."

Diana smirked. "All right, fine, you can come get me."

"Good. Don't forget to eat, _sestrenka_." Little sister.

Diana smiled at the use of the endearment. "Yes ma'am, big sister, ma'am. Gotta go, my spell checker's having a fit." She hung up, and canceled the command on her PC. It was still frozen, the screen flickering. "No blue screen of death, no blue screen of death, please don't die on me," she begged the computer. "I just had you reset!"

The computer screen turned black and the lights flickered out.

"Oh, come on," she groaned, looking out the window. The other buildings in the area were also dark. "Oh come on!"

"Okay guys!" her boss called, gathering everyone up from the cubicles and offices. "Everybody go home."

Everyone cheered, and just as Diana turned around to gather her things, there was an explosion. She felt a flash of light and heat, and then a sharp pain in her head, and everything went black.

 **A/N 2: Cliffhanger, sorry.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Chap 4! End of cliff hanger. Angst in this one.**

At eight forty-five, every single one of the avengers felt a wave of pain wash over them. Bruce grabbed at his chest. "What was that?" he asked, struggling to breathe. "I think I'm having a heart attack."

"No," Tony said, grimacing. "I felt it too."

"Same," Clint said. "What-"

"Diana," Thor said, frowning. "There can be no other answer. Something's wrong."

"JARVIS!" Tony called.

"Sir, there has been an explosion in downtown Manhattan," JARVIS announced, and he sounded worried. "The origin point was the office building where Miss Lawrence works."

"Let's go!" Steve ordered, suppressing the wave of fear in his chest, and they all leapt into action.

The Avengers were on the scene at the same time as the NYPD and the firefighters. "Let's get these civilians out, clear the area," Steve ordered. "Stark, find her."

"On it." He zoomed into the building, homing in on Diana's cell phone signal. He rang it. No answer. "Come on, kiddo," he said, an ache forming in his chest. This was almost as bad as when he'd nearly lost Pepper. "Okay," he said, "JARVIS, heat sensors. Let's find her."

"Yes sir."

Tony tagged the different heat signatures that he'd found, leaving them for the firefighters. At the house, he'd had JARVIS run a complete scan, including a heat signature profile, and that was what he was looking for. "Come on, come on." Then, he found her, in the deepest part of the rubble. "Uh oh." He landed the suit, and started heaving debris out of the way. "Diana!" he called.

There was no answer.

"JARVIS, scan her for injuries," Tony said.

"Three cracked ribs, a twisted ankle, and a severe concussion," JARVIS reported. "She is unconscious, and her head wound is bleeding heavily. You must hurry, sir."

Tony gritted his teeth impatiently. "All right." He fired his repulsor beams, vaporizing a lot of the rubble. He had a clear line of sight to Diana. He went over and scooped her up carefully, his heart flopping at how pale she looked. She was bleeding a lot. "Cap, found her," he said. "I'm taking her straight to the hospital, she's hurt pretty badly."

"Understood," Cap said.

Tony flew her to the nearest hospital and scared everyone in the Emergency room by flying in and dropping right in front of a doctor. "Help her," he ordered.

The doctors started swarming right away. "Please stay back, sir," a nurse said.

Tony complied reluctantly.

"Stark we could use your help over here," Steve said, sounding harried. "Another explosion just went off next door."

"On my way back. Someone has to stay here though, keep an eye on the situation."

"I'll go," Natasha said. "You guys will be more useful at the heavy lifting."

"All right. Go ahead. Stark, get back her as soon as Widow arrives."

"Copy that."

The next few hours were tense and hard as the Avengers worked to clear the damaged buildings and discover the source of the explosions. They finally tracked it to a transmitter, and Stark recognized some of the technology. "I'll have to take it apart to analyze it," he said, disconnecting all the wires just in case. He gave a sigh that was more a growl. "I just can't _think_." Natasha still hadn't updated them on Diana's condition and every fiber of his being was screaming at him to go to his injured soulmate.

Cap nodded grimly. He recognized the look in Stark's eyes; he could feel it himself. A still-forming bond was painfully sharp in its intensity. "Neither can I, or any of us I bet. Let's get to the hospital. I'm sure that the NYPD has it under control."

They made a quick stop at Avengers Tower to change into civilian clothes, and broke all the speed limits from there to the hospital. "Any news?" Clint asked anxiously, as they skidded into the waiting room.

Natasha looked close to tears. "Still no word. They've taken her into surgery to stop the bleeding."

Clint wrapped an arm around her. "Okay. Let's sit down."

The other people in the emergency waiting room stared at the anxious Avengers with wide eyes, not daring to say anything, or even take pictures. For that, Tony was infinitely grateful. He didn't feel like wiping the the social media tags again. He fiddled with his phone, trying to keep himself distracted by beating his score on Flappy Bird. Thor was pacing a circle in the center of the room, swinging Mjolnir and creating a small vortex on the coffee table. Steve looked like he'd been frozen again, glaring at a point on the opposite wall. Nat and Clint were holding hands, silently comforting each other the way only platonic soulmates could, even though they didn't look very comforted. And Bruce was huddled into a miserable ball in one of the chairs, frowning at his fidgeting hands.

Forty-five minutes later, one of the doctor's came out. "Are you here for Diana Lawrence?" he asked.

"Yes," Steve said. "What's her condition?"

"She had severe blood loss, and a severe concussion. We've wrapped her broken ribs and her ankle, and stitched up her lacerations."

"And the concussion?" Bruce asked.

The doctor hesitated. "She slipped into a coma. I'm sorry. We've admitted her, but we can't do anything but wait until she wakes up."

"A coma?" Tony echoed. "No, no, she can't be in a coma."

"I'm sorry."

"No, listen," Tony said, "she's not staying here. We're moving her to the Tower. We have a better medical wing than this place."

The doctor nodded. "We can get the paperwork started."

"Can we see her?" Nat asked.

"Yes, of course. This way."

They trooped into the room, and stalled in the doorway, staring at the pale, unconscious form of their soulmate. She was hooked up to half a dozen machines, and if it wasn't for the heart monitor, they would've thought she was dead.

Steve was the first to move into the room. He walked forward and took her hand, careful not to dislodge her.

"Are you her soulmates?" the doctor accompanying them asked, noticing the writing on Tony's forearm.

"Yes," Bruce said briefly.

"I'm sorry," he repeated quietly. "I'll be right back with the release papers."

Tony took Diana's other hand. "I should've flown her straight to the med wing," he said bitterly. "We could've done something."

"You did the right thing, you got her medical attention as soon as possible," Bruce said. "If you hadn't, she would've lost too much blood."

"When will she awaken?" Thor asked.

Bruce shook his head. "I don't know. I need some more detailed scans."

They got her to the Tower and installed in the medical wing, where the SI doctors got on treating her. Bruce examined all the scans, but he couldn't give them a definite answer. "She'll wake up when she wakes up," he finally said. "The only thing we can do is wait, and be there for her."

"Coma patients can hear us, can't they?" Steve asked.

"Yes."

Steve nodded. "We'll take shifts. Talking to her, reading to her." He bent to kiss her forehead. "You won't be alone, Diana. You hear me?"

"I'll take the first shift," Bruce said, "I want to monitor her overnight." Then he yawned.

Thor shook his head. "Let me, my friends. I do not need rest as much as you do."

"All right. Come on guys."

"Anyone else injured?" Bruce asked, as they all shuffled out, and received a chorus of 'no's.

Thor sat down next to Diana's bed and held her hand. "I hope you do not sleep for too long," he said. He pressed a kiss to her hand. "Have I told you about my first soulmate? She was a beauty that even an Asgardian could not rival..." He told her stories through the night, weaving tales of ancient people and alien worlds.

None of the others got much sleep either, and Tony stayed up all night, taking apart the detonation device and analyzing it. He'd determined that it was just a foreign terrorist group, trying to take a stand against capitalist America, of which Time magazine was definitely a part of. The other office buildings in the area had also been targeted, and the group that had taken responsibility was being handled by the FBI and the military. They had all the avenging stuff handled, so the worried superheroes had nothing to distract them from their injured soulmate. At five in the morning everyone was up, looking drawn and hollow.

Bruce took the next shift, monitoring her medical condition and reading from 'All Creatures Great and Small' where she'd left off. "I bet your favorite is chapter twenty-seven," he said, smiling briefly. "You ought to be laughing."

There was no sign that she'd heard him at all.

When it was Natasha's turn, she put on some old Russian lullabies and sang for a bit, and afterwards she told Diana what had really happened in Budapest. "Not that you'll remember, anyway, probably," she said. "And a good thing too. Tony's got fifty bucks riding on whether he or Steve will ever figure it out."

Clint spent his time telling Diana about Laura and his kids, Cooper and Lila, and their upcoming baby. "We've decided to name it after Nat, but, it's a boy, so we're calling him Nathaniel. Don't tell Natasha."

Steve read aloud to Diana from Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing. "After this is over, we ought to go see a play," he said. "Never been to a Shakespeare play before. Tony keeps trying to make us go see Phantom of the Opera. He swears it's the only musical worth watching. I'd rather see Lion King."

Tony's turn was spent telling her all the details of the attack, "so you'll know what happened once you wake up," he said. "Speaking of which, you don't have to go to work for the next few months or so. You ought to quit, anyways. They have terrible health insurance. Pepper wants to make you an editor for us. Keep it in the family." He bent to kiss her cheek. "You have to wake up so you can take the job. By the way, you're grounded. Not leaving the Tower ever again. It's way too dangerous." He wished she was awake so she could roll her eyes at him.

Another two days passed, the hours dragging by slowly as they waited. Steve had nearly broken the training room in frustration, and Thor kept throwing lighting bolts at the Empire State building. It had also been raining constantly since the explosion, even though it was the middle of summer. Nobody was really complaining about a break from the heat, but it was a measure of his internal anguish that the Asgardian couldn't even make it stop.

It was Natasha's shift again when she heard it, the tiny blip that signaled a difference in brainwaves. She straightened up in her seat, staring anxiously between Diana and the monitor, hoping to see it again. Blip. Blip. The brain waves began to fluctuate. "Bruce!" she shouted. "JARVIS!"

The Avengers assembled faster than they'd ever done before, and they huddled anxiously around Diana's bed. "She's waking up," Bruce said, running a hand through his hair anxiously. "Stand back a bit, guys, give her some space. She might be confused coming out of it."

They all stepped back a fraction, and Bruce touched her cheek lightly. "Diana? Diana, can you hear me? Come on, wake up."

"Wakey wakey," Tony added, from the other side of the bed. "There's coffee."

Her eyelids twitched, and she slowly opened her eyes. She blinked once, twice, and sighed. Her head was aching. So were her ribs, and her ankle.

"Diana? Can you hear me?" a soft, worried voice asked. "Can you open your eyes for me?"

She blinked again, and winced when a light shone into her eyes. "Ow," she protested, squeezing her eyes shut.

"Sorry," the voice said, and the light vanished.

She opened her eyes cautiously, and found six people standing around her, their expressions worried but hopeful. "What," she coughed, "what happened?" She brought a hand to her aching ribs.

"You were in an explosion. You hit your head and broke three ribs. What's the last thing you remember?"

She squinted, trying to remember-and found nothing. A white void. "I, don't know?" she asked, breath hitching as she started to panic.

The one with the beard reached out to take her hand. "Shh, it's okay doll," he said. "Don't worry about it."

"Who are you?" she asked, staring at their joined hands.

Tony's face fell, and he looked like he was going to cry. "I'm Tony, remember?" he asked, giving her a forced smile.

She shook her head, wincing. "No. I don't remember. I don't know any of you."

"Can you tell me your name?" Bruce asked, trying to push down his panic.

"I, I don't know," she whispered. "Who am I?"

They all shared a glance, stricken, and not a single one of them looked dry-eyed. Steve finally stepped forward, since everyone else seemed frozen. "Your name is Diana Lawrence," he said gently. "We're your friends, your soulmates."

"Oh," she said blankly. "All of you?"

"All of us."

"Oh. That's nice." She closed her eyes. "I'm tired."

"It's okay," Bruce said gently, patting her shoulder. "Just rest."

She fell asleep quickly, leaving the six Avengers to stare at each other. "What do we do now?" Tony asked. "Is this temporary? Tell me it's temporary."

Bruce shook out of his mental fog and shrugged. "I don't know. It might just be temporary amnesia due to the concussion, or it might be more serious."

"We can help her remember, right doc?" Natasha asked.

"Yes. We can talk to her, show her things, pictures, music, food that she likes. But we can't force her memories. That could be dangerous and cause further damage."

"What if the healers from Asgard have a cure?" Clint asked, glancing at Thor.

He nodded. "I will ask, and return shortly." He bent to place a kiss on Diana's forehead before striding out of the room.

"In the meantime, same as before," Bruce said. "We take shifts, and when she's awake we help her remember. I think we can get Mrs. Lawrence up here to help with that. She's also got busted ribs and a twisted ankle, and she's not used to that, so she's going to need help getting dressed, showering, and moving around. But otherwise, we'll have to wait for her mind to remember by itself, unless Thor comes back with something."

"I hate waiting," Tony said.

"No kidding," Clint said.

Natasha sat down. "I'll stay first."

Bruce nodded his approval and ushered everyone out. "You going to be okay by yourself?" he asked.

She raised an eyebrow. "I think I can handle it."

"All right."

Natasha waited till the door closed before dropping her face into her hands. Her soulmate, her little sister, had been found and lost within three days. It was cruel, giving them a bond and then removing it, no matter how temporary it was. And goodness knows how Steve felt, seeing the same thing happen to both his soulmates. But it would be okay. It had to be. Diana had to know, somewhere inside, that she was with people that cared for her.

She waited another hour, watching Diana steadily, before the younger woman's eyes fluttered open. Natasha smiled gently. "Hey."

Diana turned to her, her eyes blank of recognition. "Um."

"I'm Natasha," the redhead said.

"Hi." Diana smiled at her politely, and glanced around for the others.

"We didn't want to overwhelm you," Natasha explained. "The others are getting your mom."

"I have a mom?" Diana asked, filing that away. "Good. Good. And, dad?"

Natasha shook her head. Come to think of it, none of them had any idea about Diana's father. None of them were used to having parents that were alive, so no one questioned the lack of a father. "He's not here."

"Oh." She took this with calm, and glanced around. "So, what happened to me?"

"You were at work. You're an editor for a magazine. While you were at work, someone detonated a bomb in the building. You were injured."

"Ouch." Diana's stomach rumbled faintly and she blushed. "Sorry."

Natasha smiled. "It's okay. We'll get you something to eat. What do you like?"

Diana frowned, trying to remember anything at all. "Food?" was all she came up with, sheepishly.

"It's all right," Nat assured her. "It'll come back with time."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," Natasha said firmly, trying to sound convincing. "I'll call Bruce and he can tell us what you can eat. Don't go anywhere."

"Ha ha," Diana said flatly. She didn't think she could even sit up, let alone walk away.

Natasha came back with a tray. On it was a burger, fries, and a coke. "Good news, all regular food."

"Yay." Diana nearly inhaled the fries, and started on her burger. She picked off the onions before she took a bite.

Natasha watched her critically. Even though she couldn't consciously remember, Diana's mind was asserting itself. She hated big pieces of onions on her food.

Diana ate her fill and fell asleep again. When she woke up, there was a man sitting there. He smiled when she looked over. "Hey, there she is," he greeted her. "How do you feel?"

"Sore," she replied. "My chest hurts."

"Broken ribs," he said, nodding. "They hurt real bad, but you get used to them. Just no belly laughs."

"Okay." She cleared her throat. "Uh, who are you, again."

His expression flickered with sadness for a second and then returned to its cheerful state. "My name is Clint. Clint Barton."

"I'm sorry," she said guiltily. "I wish I remembered you."

"It's all right," he said, reaching out to squeeze her hand. His hands were calloused. "It's not your fault. You've only known us for five days, anyway. Six, counting today."

"Six days?" she asked. "You haven't kidnapped me, have you?"

He looked startled, and laughed. "Not at all. Actually, we're superheroes."

She frowned. "I'm not a superhero am I?"

"No."

"And I'm not a villain, right? I hope?"

He did laugh at that. "No, no, definitely not a villain. You're a good, wonderful, innocent person who loves Shakespeare."

"Shakespeare," she echoed, finding the word vaguely familiar. "Is that why you know me? Shakespeare?"

"We're soulmates," he explained. "Remember Steve told you?"

That, she did remember hearing, just before she'd fallen asleep. "And which one's Steve?" she asked.

"Tall, blond, blue-eyed, shoulder-waist ratio of a Dorito."

She blushed. "Right. And, I don't know what soulmate actually means," she confessed.

He scrubbed at his face with his hands. "Of course not. We just forgot. Sorry." He took a deep breath. "Okay." He gave her a brief explanation of the last few days and explained the difference between platonic and romantic soulmates, and showed her the writing on his back, and the writing on her hip, as examples.

"So who's my future husband?" she asked, interested.

He smirked. "That's the million dollar question. We don't know yet."

"Is it you?"

"No, I'm already married."

"Is Steve married?" she asked, a blush tinging her cheeks.

He grinned. "Nope."

They chatted for a while, and he left her to rest.

The next time she woke up, Bruce was taking her pulse. "Hi," he said. "How's the pain level?"

"Meh."

"Feel up to taking a shower?"

She sighed. "That would be perfect."

"All right."

Steve carried her up to her room, and Natasha helped her shower and get dressed. Then, she was carried into the common room. There, she met her mom and they spent a few hours going over childhood photos. Diana didn't remember a single thing.

"What about this?" Mrs. Lawrence asked, handing her the Complete Works of Shakespeare.

Diana opened the well-worn pages, and the book fell open to the beginning of Hamlet. "This is my favorite one," she said softly. "Isn't it?"

"Yes it is," Mrs. Lawrence said. "Do you remember it?"

"I think, I think I remember reading it," Diana said, frowning thoughtfully. "It feels so familiar."

"Read it," Steve urged. "Not many people can rediscover their favorite books for a second time."

She nodded slowly. "I think, from what you guys are telling me, I think I'll like that."

Thor came back the next day, still looking fretful and worried. Diana was sleeping off some pain medicine, and everyone gathered in the living room. "The healers of Asgard have given me devices to heal her broken ribs and her concussion," he said, gesturing to his bag, "and they are working on a way to return her memories. But we will have to wait."

"How long?"

"It will take them a month or so to create a map of her brain," he said. "And after that, they will isolate the parts of her mind that need to heal, and remember."

"So two months?" Bruce asked.

"Two months."

Steve nodded. "We can do that."

In a way, only knowing each other for three days before the accident was a blessing. That way, as Diana learned about her own history, the Avengers also learned about her, and as they told her their stories, she learned about them as well. Their soulmate bonds solidified and strengthened, and they became a close-knit family.

Steve invited Diana out to dinner one day, about a month after the accident. "What do you want to eat?" he asked.

She frowned, thinking. "Um, Italian?"

"Nice. Shall we?"

They went to the nearest Italian restaurant and had a great dinner discussing pop culture references they both were learning. Afterwards, they took a walk around the city, looking at the lights and the people.

"Diana?"

"Hm?"

"I was thinking, about you and I," he started.

Her eyes widened, and she held up a finger to his lips. "Don't say anything, Steve, please," she pleaded. "Please."

He felt his heart breaking. "All right." He tried to take a step back, distance himself from her. He'd been so sure that she returned his feelings... "I'm sorry, if I assumed-"

"It's not that," she said, reaching out to him. She took his hands. "Steve, I do care for you. Very, very much. But, right now, I don't even know who I am, not really."

"You're my soulmate," he said earnestly, "and I'm yours, no matter what you remember."

"Absolutely," she said, "but I want to be whole, I want to be me again, before you or I say anything. I want to be able to lo- to care for you, with _all_ my soul, not just part of it." She looked up at him pleadingly. "Can you wait for me, Steve?"

He nodded, feeling relieved. This was just a pause, not an end. "I've waited seventy years, I can wait as long as you need me to," he promised, and pulled her into a hug. "Don't worry," he said, kissing the top of her head in a comforting gesture, "Thor's people should be getting back to him soon enough."

It was still awkward, when they got back to the Tower, and they hastily split ways. "What's up with you?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow at the super soldier as he grumped into the kitchen for a cup of coffee. "Did you two have a fight?"

"No," Steve said, annoyed, and sighed. "It's just- argh." He couldn't even express himself.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "She rejected you?" he asked in disbelief.

"No," Steve replied hastily. "No, but she wants to wait to say anything until she completely remembers everything. I understand why, and I agree, but..." he trailed off. "It's just so hard."

Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "It'll be okay, man. Trust me, she loves you just as much as you love her. Once she gets her memory back, everything will be a-ok."

It was only two weeks later that Thor was summoned to Asgard. He returned with a liquid in a bottle, and a little device that looked like a stone covered in carvings. "It's very simple," he assured Diana. "Drink this, and when you fall asleep I will use this device to recover your memories and heal the pathways of your brain."

"Are you sure it's going to work?" Bruce asked doubtfully, as they moved to the medical wing and got Diana settled on an examination bed.

"They mapped her brain very specifically," Thor said confidently. "It will work."

"How'd you even get her brain scans?" Tony asked.

Thor held up his hammer with a 'duh' expression on his face.

"How do you even get the readings off it?" Tony asked, exasperated and intrigued all at the same time.

Thor raised an eyebrow. "You do not have the technology to match. It would take too long to explain."

"You don't even know, do you?"

Thor's face acquired an exasperated look. "There are no words in your language and Allspeak will not translate the concepts. I literally cannot explain it to you." He held up the stone. "Now do you want to heal our soulmate or not?"

"Yes, yes, of course." Tony gestured grandly. "Do your thing."

Bruce attached an electrode to Diana's temple to monitor her brainwaves, and nodded to Thor. "Go ahead."

Thor handed her the liquid. "Drink it, all in one go," he requested. "I'm sorry for the taste."

She sipped it down, and grimaced at the strange taste. "Eughghgghh... that's so gross, it tastes like, I don't even know, but it's gross."

Thor chuckled. "I often said the same thing, as a child." He caught her waist and gently laid her back on the bed as she started to fall asleep. "Everything will be fine," he promised her. "Your memories will come back, just like a dream."

"To sleep, perchance to dream," she mumbled, sighing.

Natasha reached forward and took her hand. "Shakespeare has a quote for everything," she said.

Diana smiled, and just like that she was unconscious.

Thor smoothed the hair away from her forehead and placed the stone device on her forehead. It was perfectly curved to rest on her forehead, and after a couple seconds it began to beep and hum, and a circle on top lit up every few seconds. "It is scanning and repairing the sensory pathways," Thor explained to the others.

"It looks like she's entered REM sleep," Bruce said.

"She has. Just like I said, she's going to relive her memories in her sleep, and when she has regained all her memories, she will simply sleep, and wake up."

"How long is it going to take?" Steve asked anxiously.

"She has only lived twenty two years, it will not be that long. Tomorrow, maybe."

Clint smiled briefly. "That's not counting all the books she's read."

Thor grinned. "Perhaps it will take her slightly longer, then."

They stayed with her the whole time, wandering in and out of the med wing, snacking, reading, playing video games, filling out paperwork, sketching, talking, playing chess. They'd take turns holding Diana's hand, both for her comfort and for theirs.

It was twenty-four hours before the device beeped and turned itself off.

"Now what?" Clint asked, as Thor pocketed the device.

"Now we wait for her to wake up," Thor replied. "The sedative should wear off in a few more hours."

They waited anxiously, and it was Steve that first noticed the shift in her breathing as Diana began to wake. "She's waking up."

They all stood anxiously around the bed, and Thor touched Diana's cheek lightly. "Wake up, Diana," he said gently.

She sighed, and her eyes fluttered open. She stretched, and yawned, and smiled at them. "Hey," she said, trying to sit up.

Bruce helped her sit up, and gave her a sip of water. "Careful. What do you remember?" he asked.

She scanned their worried faces and smiled. "Everything." She let out a happy laugh. "I remember my childhood, and all the stories I've read, and the editing I was working on, and, the way you all took care of me." She reached out to hug them all at once, her eyes filled with tears.

"We could do no less," Thor said, once she'd let them go.

She leaned back in the bed and smiled at them. Her eyes met Steve's, who'd somehow managed to shift closer to her. "There is one thing I forgot," she mentioned casually.

"What is it?" Tony asked anxiously.

Diana reached out and grabbed Steve's collar, tugging him down to her level. "This," she said, and kissed him firmly on the mouth.

He froze for a shocked second, and then wrapped his arms around her, bringing up a hand to cup her cheek.

They slowly drew apart a few moments later, flushed, their eyes sparkling. Steve pressed another small kiss to her cheek before stepping back, still holding her hand.

"Well, we all knew _that_ was coming," Clint stated, grinning so wide his face hurt. Everyone wore similar expressions.

"Who _didn't_ know, is the question," Tony retorted, smirking. He slapped Steve on the back. "Of course, now you two have finally gotten together, it is our official obligation to give you the shovel talk." He poked him in the chest. "If you hurt her, you're a dead man."

"Second the motion," Clint said instantly.

"Third," Thor said.

"Motion carried," Natasha said swiftly.

"Amen," Bruce added.

They all shared a glance and burst into laughter, relieved that everything was going to be okay.

Diana leaned against Steve's chest and sighed happily when he wrapped his arms around her.

"Hungry?" Tony asked, smiling at her.

"Kind of."

"Good." He held up his phone. "I've ordered Chinese."

"Come on." Steve scooped Diana up into his arms. "Living room?"

"I can walk you know," she said, smiling at him as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I know," he said, smiling down at her. He set her down on the couch.

They fussed over her over dinner and settled in to watch a movie together. When Pepper found out Diana was back to normal, she almost cried in delight. And when Mrs. Lawrence returned from her job (she hadn't been able to get the full time off), she definitely, honest to goodness, did cry.

Mrs. Lawrence stayed for another day, to make sure Diana really was fine, and then moved back home.

Once everyone reassured themselves that yes, their soulmate was okay, the Avengers returned to their regularly scheduled Earth- saving.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: All fluff. Spoilers for Clint has a farm.**

"But first," Clint said, "a vacation." He handed Diana a duffel bag. "Get your stuff together, we're going off the grid."

"Where are we going?" Diana asked, confused.

"You wanted to meet my family, right?"

She smiled and started putting clothes into the duffel bag. "Right." She raised an eyebrow at Clint. "You did tell the others, right?"

He leaned uneasily against the door frame and inspected the carpet. "Not quite..."

"Well then how are we explaining my absence?"

"Vacation to visit old friends? Technically it's true," he pointed out.

She sighed and rolled her eyes. She wasn't really expecting Clint to give up his well-kept secret so soon. "All right, all right." She zipped up her duffel bag. "I think I got everything."

"Cool." He gave her a huge grin. "Let's go."

They took a commercial flight to some random dinky airport in the middle of nowhere, and then Clint picked up his car from the side of an abandoned gas station, and they drove for miles down country roads.

Diana kept her nose pressed to the window, looking at hte scenery, counting cows and horses. "Wow, you really took them off the grid," she said.

He nodded. "Had to keep them safe."

"Will they like me?" she asked, after a long moment. "They won't mind that you spent so much time with me?"

He reached over to pat her knee reassuringly. "Trust me, they love you already. I called Laura before I even called Nat, when we first met, and she's really excited to meet you. And the kids are thrilled they get another auntie to spoil them rotten."

She smiled. "Well, when you put it that way."

"There it is," Clint said proudly, as they swung down a side lane and went around a curve. "The Barton family farm."

It was a beautiful house, and a barn, surrounded by grass and trees, as far away from the city as Diana had ever been. It was beautiful.

They got out of the car, Clint picked up their bags, and led her to the front porch. "I'm home!" he called.

"Daddy daddy daddy!" Two voices shrieked happily, and two bundles of energy raced into the living room, clinging to their father.

He knelt and hugged them both tightly, and it was like Diana could _see_ the tightly coiled assassin melt into non-existence. Here, he was just dad. "Hey kiddos," he said, pulling back slightly. "This is your new aunt. Auntie Diana. Diana, this is Lila, and Cooper."

"Hi!" Lila said, hugging Diana. "Are you my dad's other soulmate?"

"Yes I am," Diana said, returning the hug and smiling at the girl.

"Cool. Do you want to play with me?"

"I would love to play with you," Diana promised.

"What about me?" Cooper demanded.

She reached out to ruffle his hair. "Both of you," she said, smiling. "I'm so glad to meet you. Your dad has talked about you both a lot."

A woman came around the corner, five months pregnant. "Hey," she said, smiling.

Clint wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her lovingly. "Hey," he said, holding her close for a moment before letting go. "Laura, this is Diana."

"I'm so glad to finally meet you," Laura said, pulling the surprised woman into a hug. "Welcome to the family."

"Thank you," Diana said, giddy with relief. She smiled at Laura's baby bump. "And this is Nathaniel, I take it?"

Laura nodded, grinning. "Clint told you?"

"My lips are sealed," Diana promised.

Lila giggled. "Auntie Nat's going to be disappointed."

"Come on through," Clint said, "let us give you the grand tour."

Diana was shown the house, settled into a guest room, which was now officially christened 'Auntie Diana's room', and then the kids dragged her outside to introduce her to the animals in the barn.

"This is Arthur and Skippy," Lila said, introducing the horses.

"And this is Dorito, Spider Bite, Metal Mouth, Jolly Green, and Thunder Strike," Cooper said, pointing to the chickens.

Diana started to laugh. "Really?"

"Dad named them," Lila said. "Aren't they funny names?"

"Very funny," Diana said, snickering.

She helped Laura make dinner, and the five of them (five and a half if you counted the baby) sat down to eat. Dinner was merry, with Clint telling stories about funny things that had happened at the Tower, and Cooper and Lila dominating the conversation and telling them all about school and their friends and their adventures around the house. After dinner, Laura shooed her husband off to play with the kids, and Diana helped her clean up. "He really loves you, you know," Laura said to Diana. "When you lost your memory, he was so worried. So was I."

"I'm sorry," Diana said softly.

"It wasn't your fault, dear, and you know it," Laura replied, "but what I mean to say is that Clint, he cares a lot. It might not look like it, but he does. Losing his brother's company was hard for him. And when Coulson died, he left SHIELD for weeks because he couldn't bear it. He rebuilt and remodeled both bathrooms in that time, trying to keep himself busy. If something ever happened to you or Natasha, I mean really happened, I don't know what he'd do."

Diana slowly dried the plate she was holding, and put it down. "But if we lost Clint," she said slowly, "we would all feel it. Natasha, that's her purpose in life, I think, to protect him, bring him home to you. And me," she paused. She couldn't offer to protect him, not when she was pretty much useless. "I don't know what I can offer him, really."

"You can be another constant in his life," Laura offered. "He has us, the kids, but we're far away, off the grid, for our protection. He has you right there, all the time, at the tower. He doesn't get much normalcy."

"I try," Diana said, smiling briefly, "but I am pretty weird sometimes."

"Uh huh. Clint told me. Talk to yourself, much?"

Diana blushed and Laura smirked. "You don't get jealous though?" Dina asked curiously, and slapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry. That was a stupid thing to ask."

"No it's fine," Laura assured her, as they both sat down on the couch. She sighed and gave a little smile. "Yes, sometimes, I am jealous of all the time that he and Nat, and now you, get to spend together, but at the same time, I mean, you are his rightful soulmates. It's in your blood to be closer than family. How could I be jealous of something that gives my husband so much happiness?"

"You are a rare find," Diana said, giving her a hug.

"Feel better now?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Good."

Diana smiled. "So, tell me the truth. Was little Nathaniel here a plan or a surprise?"

Laura laughed. "Definitely a surprise, but a welcome one. Clint almost had a heart attack when I called to tell him. According to Natasha, he was white as a sheet and wouldn't speak for three days. We seriously thought that Lila was going to be the last one." She rubbed at her baby bump lightly. "But then this little guy came along."

Clint poked his head in cautiously, and when he saw them both relaxing on the couch, smiling, he came in, toting Lila on his shoulders. "We're going to go set up the telescope," he said. "It's nice out and there's no clouds."

"Okay."

The next morning Diana was awakened by a tiny shuffle and a giggle. She lay still and kept her eyes closed.

"Shh," said Cooper's voice from the doorway. "She's still asleep."

"Daddy said we could wake her up," Lila whispered.

"What if you guys just come and cuddle with me instead?" Diana asked, still with her eyes closed.

With a giggle and a bounce, both kids jumped on the bed, and Lila snuggled under the blankets with her.

"So what are we going to do today?" Diana asked, putting an arm around each kid.

"Dad's going to fix the new baby's room, and we're going to help him paint it," Cooper said. "And dad said that maybe later we can ride the horses if it doesn't rain."

"Awesome. I've never ridden a horse before."

Lila's eyes got huge. "What? Why not? Is it cuz you lived in the city your whole life?"

"Yep."

"Wow."

"I know right? It's crazy."

Cooper piped up, "I smell pancakes!" He rolled out of the bed and was out the door before Diana could blink.

"Wait for me!" Lila screeched, and followed him out, kicking the blankets off.

Diana came downstairs a few moments later, and found Laura trying to flip pancakes while Clint had his arms around her, pressing kisses on her neck. She paused and smiled at the picture they made, and took a quick snap of it on her phone. "You guys are so cute," she gushed, coming up to them.

"Don't show that picture to anyone," Clint said jokingly, "it'll ruin my reputation."

"Nah. I'm keeping it to remind myself that you're a nice person at heart when you're being a birdbrain," Diana retorted, giving him a brief side hug. "Good morning, by the way."

"Did you sleep well?" Laura asked, handing Diana a plate.

"Very well," Diana said. "It's so quiet out here. No noisy cars, no random explosions from the lab."

"It's great, isn't it?" Clint asked, beaming.

Diana smiled. "A little birdie told me today that we're going to do some painting today."

Clint grinned sheepishly. "Well, we have the paint, and since I'm here I might as well do it..."

"You just wanted me to come for free labor," Diana said, nodding, "I see how it is."

He sighed dramatically. "You've discovered the truth. Oh no."

The kids both snickered at their banter.

Thus followed a day of priming and painting, and everyone got more paint on themselves than on the walls, but finally, it was done. After everyone cleaned up they put on a movie and snuggled up with hot cocoa and cookies.

Diana was the favoured aunt, and Lila and Cooper sat on either side of her. Eventually, both of them fell asleep, leaning against her. She leaned her head against the back of the couch, sighing contentedly.

"You've got that face on," Clint observed, from the other couch, where he was giving Laura a foot massage.

"What face?" Diana asked.

"The same face Nat had when she tried to smuggle Lila back to the tower with us."

Diana laughed. "First, I want to hear that story later. Second, it's totally true. This, right here, is the closest to a perfect family evening as I've ever had in my entire life."

"Maybe one day you'll have your own kids to snuggle with," Clint said, grinning at her.

Diana blushed. "Maybe."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Your parents never put in a movie, never snuggled with you like this?"

Diana sobered. "Well, my dad left us as soon he found out my mom was pregnant. But, yeah, my mom and I had movie nights like this." She smiled briefly. "Except we'd have tea and shortbread cookies. Hot cocoa was for scary movies."

The next day as she was getting ready to go horse riding, Diana's phone rang. "Hello?"

"Good morning, beautiful," Steve's voice said over the phone.

She smiled. "Good morning, handsome."

"How are you doing?" he asked.

She sat back down on the bed. "Good. It's been very relaxing over here."

"I'm glad," he said tenderly. "Are you up to anything big today?"

"Nothing much," she said, "a little light reading, a little horseback riding."

"Sounds fun."

She smiled. "Did you miss me?" she asked. "Is that why you called?"

"Maybe," he said, and she could tell he was smiling.

Another voice filtered dimly through the speaker. "Hey, Steve, are you coming or not? Who you talking to? HI DIANA!"

"HI TONY!" she called back through the phone.

Steve huffed. "Be right there," he told Tony.

"Well I'd better let you get back to business," Diana said, smiling fondly. "I'll see you in a few days."

"When you come back, will you have dinner with me?"

"Just the two of us?" she asked. "No Tony interrupting our moments?"

"No interruptions," he said firmly.

She laughed. "I would love to."

"Great. See you in a few days."

"Bye." She hung up, and went out to the hallway. Clint was leaning on the side of the wall, grinning like a cat who'd got the cream. "What?" she asked, blushing.

"Nothing. I'm just happy for you."

She smiled. "Thanks."

Over the next few days, they went horseback riding, Diana learned how to feed chickens, they finished repainting the nursery, and started remodeling the sun room.

"You've got to come back soon," Laura said, as they stood outside on the porch. "This little guy's going to need to know his auntie face to face."

"I will," Diana promised, giving her a hug. "Thank you for welcoming me into the family."

"Always," Laura said.

Diana hugged Lila and Cooper, and promised to bring them presents next time, and she got in the car to let Clint say his own goodbyes. They were quiet on the way back to the airport.

"So, where's Steve going to take you?" Clint asked, finally.

"I don't know. Somewhere Tony can't interrupt us, hopefully."

Clint laughed. "I'll tie him down while you guys are out."

"Promise?"

"Promise. I'll get Pepper to help."

"Cool."


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Lots of things happen in this chapter. Fluff, angst, soulmatey stuff.**

Everyone was overjoyed to have Diana back at the Tower, and the very next day, Steve made reservations for a quiet restaurant on the waterfront. "Can you be ready by six?" he asked.

Diana smiled. "All right."

Natasha helped her get ready, and insisted on Diana's wearing the dark blue dress she'd bought months ago. "Steve's going to faint," Natasha said, smirking. "Come on, put your heels on."

"No heels," Diana pouted.

"You only have one inch heels, you'll be fine. However, if something does happen, you take them off as soon as possible and run. Also, heels can be used as a weapon. Just aim for the face, if someone attacks you."

Diana stared at her, wide-eyed. "All righty then."

"I'm serious," Natasha said. She frowned thoughtfully. "Now that you're well, we need to start training you."

"You do realize the most athletic thing I've ever done is play tennis on the weekends during college and run once in a while?" Diana asked.

"It doesn't matter. You have to be able to defend yourself, just in case we're not there with you if something happens." Natasha's frown deepened. "And maybe have Stark make some sort of personal shield for you. Maybe a suit in a briefcase."

Diana slipped her dark blue shoes on and finished putting on her earrings. "I think that's taking it a bit far," she mentioned.

Natasha smiled sheepishly. "Probably. Sorry. You make me worry."

"I promise I'll try my hardest not to get blown up again," Diana said, giving her a brief hug. "How do I look?"

"Gorgeous," Natasha assured her.

Steve's expression when he saw her didn't disappoint. His jaw dropped and he couldn't keep his eyes off her as she walked towards him. "You're beautiful," he said, reaching out to touch her cheek gently. "Absolutely beautiful."

She blushed at the obvious adoration in his eyes, and rested her hands on the lapels of his perfectly-cut jacket. "You clean up well yourself, soldier," she said, admiring the way his blue shirt made his eyes look.

"All right, enough staring," Tony complained from the couch, where he was watching a zombie movie with the other guys. "You guys are going to burst into flames over there, and I just had the living room redone. Go on. Shoo."

Clint gave Diana a thumbs up as they walked away.

"And I want you home by ten," Tony called.

"You're not my dad," Diana called back, sticking her tongue out at him.

They drove to the restaurant, and a few people took pictures of the two of them. "I think we're going to end up in the news tomorrow," Steve said apologetically.

Diana smiled and held his hand across the table. "I don't mind if the whole world knows we're together."

"Speaking of which, will you officially be my girl?" he asked, turning slightly red around the ears.

"Officially, I accept," she said, smiling.

They chatted about this and that over dinner, and talked about what things were on Steve's list of catching-up that they could do together for dates. They shared a tiramisu for dessert, and Steve asked if she wanted to take a walk along the water's edge.

"I'd love to," Diana said, taking his arm.

A few photographers took their picture, and Diana guessed that yes, they did make a romantic couple, walking along the sparkling water's edge, arm in arm. "I think, if we kissed, that photographer over there would die of happiness," she murmured to Steve.

He smirked. "Shall we oblige then?" Without waiting for an answer, he dipped his head to kiss her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and stood up on her tiptoes to be able to reach him, and nearly melted as he wrapped an arm around her waist to pull her closer. It was incredible how strongly she felt about him, her soulmate. "I love you," she whispered against his lips, as they stopped for breath.

He inhaled sharply, and his grip on her tightened. "I love you," he replied, pressing a soft kiss to her lips. He kissed her eyes, her nose, her cheek, and finished with a literally soul-searing kiss that left them both light-headed, their soulmarks tingling. "It's pretty late," he murmured, after a moment to breathe. "We should probably head back."

"Probably," she agreed, still breathlessly happy.

When they got back to the Tower, everyone was pointedly not looking at them, instead enraptured in the movie onscreen. But as soon as Diana went into her room, there was a knock on her door. She opened it. It was Natasha, and Pepper, even though the latter was supposed to be leaving for Switzerland in the morning.

"Well?" Natasha asked eagerly.

"Well what?" Diana asked, blushing.

"Woman, we can all tell you're practically bursting with happiness," Natasha said impatiently. "Well?"

Diana smiled and sighed happily. "It sounds so cliche, but he really is my soulmate. He loves me, and I love him."

"I'm so happy for you," Pepper said, smiling. She glanced at her phone when it beeped, and her eyes widened. "Oh boy."

"What?"

Pepper held up the phone. It was a twitter update, with the hashtag #captainamericasgotagirl. There on the screen was a picture of Diana and Steve kissing underneath a full moon. "You guys are going viral," Pepper noted. "Thankfully no one really knows who you are, or we'd have people swarming the Tower."

"All the world's a stage," Diana quoted.

"Just as long as the world keeps its distance," Natasha said, scowling.

"Natasha, are you jealous?" Diana asked teasingly. "We need to find you a boyfriend."

"Please," Natasha scoffed. "I've already got five male teammates. I don't need another man in my life."

"Speaking of men in our lives," Pepper said, "can you two keep an eye on Tony for me while I'm gone? This business trip is going to be really long, and Tony always gets a little insane when I'm gone. Just, make sure he eats, and sleeps, and rests, once in a while."

Diana gave her a hug. "No problem. I'll take care of Tony like he was my soulmate. Wait a second, he is."

"Good thing too," Pepper said, grinning. She checked her phone. "Okay, I've got to go to bed."

"Night," the other two chorused.

Natasha stood up as well. "I'll let you get some sleep," she said, giving Diana a hug. "And whatever you do, don't check social media. I'm serious."

"I won't."

The next morning, when Diana got up, she was greeted by Tony. "Did you know you and Cap made national news?" was the first thing he said, handing her a tablet. The magazine displayed on it was headlined "Has Captain America Finally Found His All-American Girl?"

"Cute headline," Diana said, handing it back.

"They're going crazy," Tony said, "nobody knows who you are. Oh, and ah, don't leave the Tower today."

"Why not?"

He flicked on a security camera view of the outside. There were like thirty paparrazi and reporters haunting the entrances of the building, waiting for an Avenger to appear.

"Oh," Diana said faintly. "Yeah, probably not."

"Don't worry," Bruce said, coming in, "you still have to read all the books in Tony's library."

Diana smiled. "True."

It was the day after Pepper had left for her business trip that Diana noticed Tony wasn't at breakfast. "Where's Tony?" she asked curiously, once she'd surfaced from her latest novel.

Bruce sighed. "In the lab. He's been in there all night."

"All night?" Diana echoed.

"Yep. I think he's trying to fix something in one of the suits."

Diana shook her head. "JARVIS, tell Tony there's a stack of pancakes with his name on it."

"And if he doesn't get up here, I will eat them all," Thor added, eyeing the stack with a calculating gaze.

JARVIS replied a few seconds later. "Sir says that he has already eaten breakfast."

"All right," Diana said, shrugging. "Thor, go for it."

He grinned and started in on the stack of pancakes.

"If you weren't Asgardian I swear I'd think you have a tapeworm or something," Diana muttered, watching him demolish the plate of pancakes.

Thor chuckled. "You should see my friend, Volstagg. His sole occupation is eating. Fighting for him is only a hobby."

"Yeah man, when are you taking your soulmate to Asgard to meet the family?" Clint asked.

Thor sighed. "Not in the near future," he said glumly. "I must find Loki's sceptre first, and there is something brewing in the realms that disturbs my father."

"How's that going, by the way?" Diana asked, glancing at Bruce, who was in charge of tracing Loki's sceptre by means of gamma radiation traces. They'd been looking for it for three years.

"We're getting close," Bruce said. "We've ruled out a lot of stuff that wasn't it."

"And in the meantime ended up taking out three HYDRA bases and a few Hulk wannabes," Natasha added.

Steve scowled at the mention of his old foe, and Diana reached out to squeeze his hand lightly. "You'll get 'em," she said encouragingly.

"Have you talked to Sam lately?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah, he's working on a big project or something for Veteran's Day this year," Steve said. "I think he's trying to draft Captain America into making an appearance. He keeps hinting how awesome it'd be."

"And is Captain America going to show up?" Diana asked teasingly.

"Maybe. Would Captain America's soulmate come with him?"

"Maybe."

Diana spent the day with Thor and Bruce, listening to them talk about ways to find the sceptre, and Steve and the two superspies were on a brief mission to stake out a possible HYDRA hideout. And Tony was still in his lab.

One day turned into two days, and Tony still hadn't come out of his lab. Diana was ashamed to say that she hadn't even noticed, in between all the work they'd been doing, and her trying to keep tabs on all of them and read her books. "JARVIS," she finally said, "when was the last time Tony left the lab?"

"Three days ago," JARVIS said, "except for bathroom breaks."

Diana's eyes narrowed. "When was the last time he slept?"

"Forty hours ago."

"Does he do this all the time Pepper leaves?"

"Most of the time," JARVIS replied, and his tone sounded sad.

"That's it." Diana scrambled up from her perch on the couch and got in the elevator, feeling terribly guilty. "To the lab, J."

"I'm afraid he has restricted access to himself and D.r Banner."

Diana's eyes narrowed. "JARVIS, get me down there, or so help me, I will get Thor to fry this whole place."

"Yes miss."

The elevator doors opened on the lab and Diana walked into the lab. She found Tony hunched over a computer screen, feverishly making calculations and complaining under his breath about substandard mathematical models. "Hey Tony," Diana said gently.

He didn't even glance up at her. "Go away dollface, I'm busy. Go make out with Cap, or something."

She raised an eyebrow. "I already did that this morning. Can't I spend time with my favorite billionaire?"

"Not right now."

"Tony seriously, you haven't slept in two days, and you smell. You need a shower and sleep. And like, five square meals." She tried to grab his elbow but he jerked away from her.

"Seriously doll, I'm okay."

"Tony, you look like something the cat dragged in." She examined him more closely. "Have you been having nightmares?"

"Wouldn't you know the answer to that, miss I-can-feel-your-nightmares?" he asked snarkily.

"No I wouldn't, because you haven't slept!" she exclaimed. "Tony, please, I'm worried about you. At least stop working long enough to eat."

"I ate a few hours ago," he lied.

"No you didn't. I asked JARVIS."

"Traitor," he muttered at the ceiling.

"Come on Tony."

"No. What do you care anyway? The only one you care about is Steve."

"Don't say that," she scolded. "Of course I care about you, I love you all."

"Uh huh. Well then why weren't you down here earlier? You forgot about me didn't you? You're just like everyone else. Nobody cares about me. You don't even care about my work. You don't even want to be my soulmate."

SMACK! Diana stared at him, shocked at herself, her hand burning, Tony staring at her wide-eyed, his cheek reddening. "How dare you," she said angrily. "I know you're feeling bad because Pepper's gone and you've been having anxiety attacks, but that doesn't mean you get to destroy yourself or your relationship with the others in the process. And especially not me, you got that? Yes, I forgot about checking on you, and I'm sorry. But you can't say things like that."

"I'm sorry," he said, uncharacteristically somber. He rubbed at his temples tiredly. "I just, I haven't been able to sleep, so I've been working..."

"I know," Diana said, reaching out this time to hug him. "Let me help you."

"How?" he asked tiredly. "How are you going to help me?"

"Tony, I will get Steve down here to knock you out if you don't shut up," she threatened.

He scowled at her.

She took the tablet out of his hands. "First, let's get you something to eat."

She made him an omelet, and watched him eat the whole thing. She ordered him to shower, and put JARVIS to supervise so he wouldn't sneak back down to the lab. And then she sat next to him on the bed and told JARVIS to put on a movie.

"Really, doll?" he grumbled, turning on his side to look at her. "You're just going to sit there and read?"

"I can read to you if you want," she offered.

He eyed the title of the book. Strawberry Acres. "No thanks. I'd rather watch the Hunt for Red October."

"I thought so." She kissed his forehead. "Hush. Movie's starting."

Ten minutes into the movie, he was out like a light. She tucked him in securely, and went down to her own apartment.

Two hours later she was up again, her heart hammering with teh feeling of someone else's panic attack. "Tony!" she realized.

She raced upstairs and found him hugging his knees, hyperventilating, his eyes wide with panic. "Shh, just breathe," she said, kneeling on the bed next to him. She wrapped her arms around him, and rubbed his back. "Come on Tony. You're safe now. Just breathe. I promise, everything's okay. It's all right. You're safe. We're all safe. It's okay."

Later, if anyone were to ask, Tony would swear he was definitely not crying into her shoulder like a small child. And he definitely did not cling to her like a lifeline while she smoothed his hair and talked him out of his panic attack.

Once his breathing finally came back to normal and he'd quieted, Diana drew back and met his eyes. "You okay now?" she asked gently.

He nodded, trying to play it off. "Yeah, I'm good."

"You want to talk about it?" she pressed.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said stiffly.

She sighed. "All right. Do you think you can go back to sleep?"

"Nope."

"How about hot chocolate?"

"I'm not a kid, Diana," he said, looking offended.

"I'm not saying for you, I'm saying for me," Diana said, tugging him off the bed. "Come on, Mr. Repression."

He stayed quiet as she fixed the hot cocoa, and he took his special red and gold mug silently. Then, halfway through their quiet sipping, he said, "Thank you."

She wrapped an arm around his waist and hugged him. "Anytime, Tony. I mean it." She kissed his cheek. "No matter what, you can come to me for help, all right?"

He kissed the top of her head. "I'm sorry for being a jerk."

"I forgive you," she said, and said softly, "I'm sorry for forgetting about you."

"I forgive you, too." He hugged her and took a sip of his hot cocoa. "Wow, we're saps."

She huffed a laugh. "Want to play Mario Kart?"

He grinned. "Absolutely."

The next morning Natasha found Tony and Diana sleeping on the couch, Tony's head in her lap. She smiled fondly, and sent a picture of them to Pepper. "Shall we let them sleep?" she texted.

"Definitely," was Pepper's reply. "Give Diana a hug from me."

It wasn't a day later that a shout of surprise echoed from Diana's apartment. Steve, Bruce, and Natasha ran into the room ready to protect their soulmate. They found her in the bathroom, wrapped in a towel, staring at her upper arm.

"What's wrong?" Natasha demanded, since Steve had turned into a tomato and both he and Bruce had turned around to preserve her modesty.

"My arm," Diana whispered, panicked. "It's burning."

Natasha touched her arm lightly and found it burning hot. "Bruce," she ordered.

Bruce turned around hesitantly and reached out to touch her arm. "It's hot," he said, surprised. He checked her forehead. "No fever. Get dressed, put on a tanktop, and we'll go down to the med wing."

Steve finally turned around. "Does it hurt?" he asked worriedly, reaching out to touch it.

"It doesn't hurt, it's just hot," she said, staring at her arm in fascination. "What do you think it is?"

Suddenly, before their very eyes, black words began to form on her arm, writing themselves in a circle around her upper arm. _You're her, aren't you?_

"Is that...?" Steve started.

"Another soulmark," Natasha said, awed. "I didn't know that was possible."

"I didn't think it was either," Bruce said. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," Diana whispered, a little pale. "It just feels a little strange."

Bruce touched her arm. It was no longer hot, and the words were smooth on her skin just like all the others. "Get dressed," he said. "I want to run some tests."

"Yeah."

They waited outside while she put on a pair of jeans and a tanktop, and walked her down to the medical wing. She clung to Steve's hand while Bruce ran the tests. "It's not ink or any other substance," Bruce said, after a while. "It's definitely a soulmark, bonded directly to her skin's pigment cells, just like ours."

"So, does that mean I have another soulmate out there right now?" Diana asked.

"Maybe they were just born?" Natasha wondered. "I've heard of that happening."

"This is so weird," Diana said, tracing the words on her skin.

Steve wrapped an arm around her lovingly. "We'll figure it out," he said. "Maybe Thor knows what it's about."

Thor was able to reassure them. "It means you have another soulmate," he said simply. "Either they were just born or something must have happened to make them your soulmate."

"I thought it was particles, or something," Clint protested.

"Pperhaps the particles were unable to link themselves until now," Thor said, shrugging. "However it happened, you will find them, eventually."

"Speaking of finding," Tony said, still glancing at the soumark, "JARIS thinks we've got a hit on the sceptre."

They all glanced at Steve. He nodded, instantly in Captain mode. "Let's move out."

Diana accompanied them to the locker rooms and watched them suit up. "Be careful," she said, rubbing at her arm worriedly. "I don't want this new soulmark to mean that I'll lose the rest of you."

They all stopped at that, stricken by the horror of the idea, and Steve went to embrace her. "I spent ninety years waitng for you," he said, tipping her chin up to meet his determined gaze. "You're not going to lose us now, all right?"

She nodded. "All right."

"Good." He kissed her lightly. "Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

Maria Hill, Stark's head of security and the Avenger's mission control, came in to brief them and hand out the latest comm sets. "Hopefully you won't fry this one," she told Thor.

He grinned sheepishly and slipped it into his ear. "I shall try not to."

Clint kissed Diana's forehead. "Hold down the fort, kiddo."

"Come back safe," she told them.

Steve gave her another brief kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Maria came to stand at her side as they watched the quinjet lift off. "You hate waiting too?" she asked.

Diana sighed. "Yeah."

With the Avengers gone from the Tower, the paparrazi dispersed. One day turned into two, then three, with only periodic updates from the Avengers to reassure Diana that everything was going okay. By the third day Diana was desperate for fresh air and felt the need to go for a walk. "I'm going to the bookstore," she told JARVIS, putting on her jacket.

"Sir has an excellent online browser," JARVIS offered, stalling the elevator.

"I want real books," Diana replied firmly.

"We can have them delivered."

She sighed longingly. "JARVIS, I need fresh air."

"Sir suggests opening a window."

She huffed. "JARVIS, seriously. I'm going out. Look, I've got my phone with me, you can track me if you want, okay? I'm only going to be gone for like two hours, tops."

JARVIS grudgingly agreed to let her go, and opened the doors to the elevator.

"Thank you. Love you J!"

She soon walked out of the Tower and breathed in the New York city air. She stuffed her hands in her pockets and started walking, heading for the nearest bookstore.

Not ten minutes later, she sensed someone following her.

Diana had read enough spy novels to know how to glance behind her without attracting attention. She did this a couple of times, pausing to look in shop windows, and caught sight of the person following her. It was a man in a brown jacket, his hands in his pockets, with a scruffy beard and dark hair. She made it to the corner of the street and dashed down the block, trying to reach the corner before he could follow her. She ended up on the other road and hightailed it down the main street, looking for a cab. Hopefully she could make it back to Avengers Tower before the man caught up to her. In her distraction, she tripped over an uneven sidewalk and went sprawling over the concrete. "Ow," she muttered, pulling herself up.

Two black booted feet appeared in front of her and an arm extended to help her up.

She took the offered hand, and then realized belatedly that it was the man who was following her. _Idiot_ , she scolded herself. She tensed to run, but he'd blocked her exit, and she had her back against a wall. She waited for him to make a move.

He was staring at her, his brow furrowed, his dark eyes intense. "You're her, aren't you?" he asked.

"We know what we are, but know not what we may be," she replied flippantly. "Who do you think I am?" It was then she realized her arm was tingling, and her jaw dropped. "Wait... who are _you_?"

He let go of her arm and turned to walk away. "No one important." He sounded pained.

She was the one to run after him this time, half a block before she caught up to him. "Wait, wait!" She grabbed his other arm, and was shocked when she realized his arm was made of metal instead of flesh. "Bucky?" she whispered, suddenly realizing where she'd seen those haunted eyes before. "James Bucky Barnes?"

He flinched. "I'm sorry for scaring you," he said hoarsely. "I just wanted to make sure he'd really found his soulmate." The _he_ was obvious.

"But you're mine too," she blurted.

He stared at her, and shook his head, denial evident in his face. "I can't be. I'm dangerous."

"But you remember," she pleaded, still holding onto his arm in a death grip. "You remember Steve, you remember my soulmark. You can't leave now, we both need you here, especially now that we've met. Please don't go." She tried to blink back tears.

"Show me?" he asked hesitantly.

"If I let go of you, will you run?" she asked.

A brief shake of his head. "I won't."

"All right." She released his arm, waited to make sure he wouldn't run, and shrugged off her jacket, showing him the words on her arm. "These appeared just three days ago," she said, watching his expression.

"It was three days ago when I broke the last of my conditioning," he admitted. "I've seen the words so many times, I thought it was a tattoo, something that _they_ had given me to remind me I was a non-person. But then I heard that Captain America had found his soulmate. That was my last block, that I had no soulmates. I knew it wasn't true, so I looked for you, found you, and something... something clicked when I saw you and Steve. That's how I remembered that I had two soulmates. I had to see if it was you, but I didn't want you to know. So I waited, and I followed you. I'm sorry for scaring you."

She reached out to take his hand, the metal one, even though he flinched. "Come home with me," she said again. "We can help you remember. You don't have to be alone to deal with this."

"I don't want to intrude," he said uncomfortably.

She smiled. "Steve and I may be romantic soulmates, but I have five other soulmates, not including you. You wouldn't be intruding."

"But I'm not...I tried to kill them a while ago," he said, his dark eyes pained.

She reached for his other hand and squeezed it gently. "That wasn't you. You said yourself that you broke through the last of your conditioning. Your soulmark wouldn't have shown up if you hadn't." She gave him a soft smile. "Natasha won't hold your past actions against you, and Steve never blamed you in the first place. The others will understand, too. They've had their fair share of bad history and mind control. And besides, you've been talking here with me and you haven't turned into a crazy person."

He looked torn. "I..." He started to edge away.

"Just one day," she begged, refusing to let go of his hands. "Just one day, and we'll see how it goes. If you don't feel like you can stay, we'll let you go. All right?"

He looked at her, and sighed. "Never could say no to puppy eyes."

She grinned, and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Good."

He stared at her, shocked, and his eyes began to fill with tears. He turned away from her slightly to hide them.

"What's wrong?" she asked, worried that she might have broken him.

"Nothing," he said gruffly. Then, softer, "I haven't been kissed like that in seventy years..."

She laid her hand on his cheek and made him face her. "You are not alone anymore," she reminded him. "Steve and I are your soulmates, and you can just get used to the idea of hugs and affection, all right? I demand cuddles on a regular basis from everybody."

He nodded, a tiny smirk coming to his lips. "Yes ma'am."

She put her jacket back on and linked her arm with his. "Come on. Let's go home." She led him back to the Tower, explained to JARVIS who it was, and why JARVIS shouldn't alert the Avengers that the Winter Soldier was on the premises. "He's not the Winter Soldier anymore, JARVIS. Right?"

"Right," he said. "I promise I won't harm anyone or anything in this tower."

"See?" Diana said, giving the camera a winning smile.

JARVIS heaved a sigh. "Only the common floor," he warned. "No access to the labs or to the armory, or anywhere else."

"That's fine," Diana said. She led Bucky out to the living room and asked, "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat? You're kind of skinny."

"If you have something, if not that's fine," he said, shrugging.

She warmed up some leftover Chinese food and the rest of the lasagna that they hadn't finished from the other night. "Here, eat," she said, and poured a glass of juice. "I know you have the same sort of serum as Steve, which means you both have crazy metabolisms."

He scarfed down the food eagerly, and finished off the rest of the orange juice in the fridge. "Thank you," he said, his eyes still wary and his body still tense as he watched her put away the dishes.

She smiled at him. "I won't bite, I promise."

He gave her a tiny answering smile.

"What do I call you?" she asked, after a moment. "James? Bucky? Something else?"

"Bucky is fine," he said softly. "It helps me remember."

"Good," she said, relieved, "because I don't think Steve could stop calling you that." She hugged him briefly. "Steve is going to be so happy."

"I sure hope so, doll," he replied, even though he tensed at the reminder.

She smoothed his hair soothingly. "Do you want to watch some TV? How caught up are you on this time?"

"Only politics and stuff."

"All right. Sitcoms it is. You ever seen Friends?" She tugged him onto the couch and sat next to him. "JARVIS, Netflix please." The show started playing on the screen. She glanced over at Bucky. "Tell me if you get uncomfortable, okay?"

He nodded. "I don't mind."

She leaned slightly into him. "This okay?"

"Yeah." He relaxed slightly. The soulmate bond between them was like a warmth expanding in his chest, making him feel lighter than he'd been in over seventy years. He was glad Steve had found her. He smiled briefly, thinking of the punk's soulmark. 'Is that why you get into fights all the time, huh?' he remembered asking Steve.

"The Avengers are returning," JARVIS announced, a few episodes later.

Bucky turned white as a sheet and jumped to his feet. He glanced at the stairs. He looked like he was going to bolt, and Diana reached out to grab his hand. "It'll be all right," she said soothingly. "Everything will be fine. Trust me."

The Avengers poured out of the elevator, tired and sore, and a few of them looked charred around the edges.

"Did you explode something again?" Diana asked wryly, coming over to flick a few pieces of ash from Natasha's suit.

Tony held up his hands. "I can explain," he started. "It was Clint's fault."

"It was _not!_ "

Then they all noticed Bucky's presence, and Steve nearly fell over in surprise. "Bucky?" he said hoarsely, not even noticing when Thor braced him against the wall.

"Hi," Bucky said, giving a small awkward wave, even though there were now four weapons pointed at him.

Diana stepped in front of him protectively. "Now hold on a minute," she said, holding up her hands. "No shooting. Absolutely no shooting."

"Diana, get away from him," Natasha ordered, reaching out a hand to him.

Diana shook her head. "No, you don't understand. He's okay. He remembers everything. And look." She pulled up the sleeve of her shirt to show them the brand new soulmark. "It was him."

Steve looked like he was going to pass out. "Buck?" he whispered.

Bucky understood the question, and slowly pulled up his shirt. There, across his waist, were the words, " _We know what we are now, but not what we may become_."

"It's Shakespeare," Diana said, smiling briefly.

"Of course it is," Tony said, lowering the repulsor slightly. "How'd you find him?"

"He found me," Diana said, wrapping an arm around Bucky's waist. "He wanted to make sure I was really Steve's soulmate, but we found out he was mine, too."

"Cool. Well, I'm going to get out of this thing. Bruce, a little help?" They left.

"I can leave, if you want," Bucky said uncertainly, seeing the expressions of the others.

"No," Steve said, reaching out to grab his arm lightly. "You can't leave, you just got here."

"That's what I said," Diana said. She looked at the others. "He can stay, can't he?"

Natasha sighed and put her gun away. "Fine. Whatever. But try and kill me again and you're a dead man, understood?"

"Yes ma'am," Bucky said, inclining his head, giving her a soft smile.

Diana glanced between the two of them, surprised. Had that been sparks flying? She was pretty sure those had been sparks. Then she noticed Steve was bleeding. "Steve!" She went to his side and examined the wound on his arm. "Ow," she said sympathetically. "Come on, I'll walk you to the med wing."

"It's not that bad," Steve started.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Steven Grant Rogers. Do not try and pull that super-serum line on me. You are _bleeding_."

He shut up and let her fuss over him.

Bucky snickered quietly.

"Hey," Clint said, catching his attention as the two lovebirds walked away. "I don't mind if you're here, if you're healing, remembering your life and becoming a different person. But if you use Diana or harm her in any way, I'll put an arrow through your eye. Got it?"

Bucky nodded. "I couldn't harm her," he said. "I wouldn't. Her, or Steve, or any of you."

Clint nodded. "Good." He glanced at Thor, who was eating straight out of a peanut butter jar. "I'm going straight to bed, man."

"Sleep well, my friend," Thor said, nodding at the silent 'keep an eye on him'. He sat next to Bucky. "Diana did not mention your name," he said.

Bucky held out a hand. "James Buchanan Barnes," he said.

"You were Steve's brother soulmate," Thor recalled.

"Yes."

Thor's eyes narrowed. "And you became..."

"Yeah. I'm not anymore. He made me remember."

"Why did you take so long to return?" Thor asked. "Steve has been searching for you."

"I wanted to do it on my own," he said stubbornly.

Thor nodded. "And now you remmeber, you will stay?"

"For a while, maybe."

Thor looked at him critically for a long moment. Then, "It is very hard to watch your soulmate leave," he said. "And Steve has already experienced it once." He returned his attention to the peanut butter.

Bucky nodded.

In the med bay, Steve sat silently, trying not to freak out over the fact that Bucky was only two levels above him, sitting on the sofa.

"Stop fidgeting," Diana said patiently, trying to clean his wounds.

"Sorry." He held still for approximately twelve seconds.

" _Steve_ ," she said. She put the cloth down and put her hands on his cheeks. "Hey. Baby, come on, look at me."

He focused on her face.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"No."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Good. Now if you can just hold still five more minutes you'll be all done. I promise, Bucky's not going anywhere."

"How did you convince him to stay?" Steve asked.

She smiled briefly. "I gave him my best puppy dog eyes and told him you didn't hate him."

"I don't hate him."

"See? I told him the truth." She kissed his forehead. "There. All done."

He caught her around the waist and kissed her properly. "I missed you," he said softly, as he drew back.

She smiled at him. "I missed you too." She stepped back to let him stand. "Go on then. Get your brother back."

At first it was awkward, but Bucky was slowly adopted into the Avengers family and lifestyle. He and Steve spent the first few days just talking. There were a lot of manly tears shed in reminiscence of the past, although JARVIS would never tell a soul. Neither would Diana, who could feel their joys and sorrrows and cried a little bit, too. She spent a lot of time with Bucky that first week and a half, letting their platonic soulmate bond establish itself, and letting Bucky know that he was no longer alone.

Tony built him a new arm, that wasn't so bulky, and was painted red, white and blue.

"Subtle, much?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm Iron Man. Subtle isn't in my vocabulary, Capsicle." Tony clapped him on the shoulder and walked out with a swagger, winking at Diana.

"Drama queen," Steve muttered.

Bucky laughed. "Says the showgirl."

"Jerk."

"Punk."

Diana snickered. "All right, boys. Bucky, find something to do. Steve and I have date night."

Bucky gave them a grin. "Have fun, kids."

When Diana and Steve returned from their movie date of the new Jurassic World movie, she found Bucky and Natasha curled up on the couch, having a very intense conversation in low voices. The two former Russian assassins didn't even notice Diana and Steve go through.

"Well, who'd've thought?" Diana murmured.

Steve smiled briefly. "They'll be good for each other. I always knew Bucky needed a strong woman."

"And Natasha's the strongest woman in the world," Diana added. She grinned. "They're so cute."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Chapter 7. De-aged!Avengers yay. Pure fluff.**

It was mid-afternoon. Tony was outside, testing something on his Iron Man suit. Natasha and Bucky were in the gym, sparring in all their killer Russian glory. Their style was called 'Laughing Murder', and watching it, it definitely seemed like murder was laughing at you. And everybody else in the Tower was playing tournament Mario Kart.

Suddenly the Intruder alert came blaring on, followed closely by the Bio-Hazard alert. Steel shutters came down and the air stopped circulating. "JARVIS! What's going on?" Natasha demanded.

"There was someone in the Tower, he has gone. I was not able to catch an identity. Whoever it was they knew the location of the cameras."

"And the bio-hahzard alert?" Bucky asked.

"There was a gas released into the vents. It has dispersed." JARVIS sounded worried. "Sir, the others were in the same room as the gas."

"Are they all right?" Natasha asked, her heart sinking into her stomach.

"I cannot tell if they were injured or not. They are unconscious."

"Let us out!" Bucky yelled, pounding on the door.

JARVIS let the door slide open. "Shall I put the Tower on lockdown?"

"Yes."

They hurried up to the common floor, and found an empty floor. "Guys?" Natasha asked, her heart sinking even further. She rounded the corner, and found a strange sight.

A little girl around four years old with brown curls was seated on the floor, and a skinny little blond boy was sleeping beside her. She was holding his hand securely. Another little long-haired blond boy was staring out the window, awestruck at the city skyline. Another brown-haired boy was crouching on top of the bookshelf, watching everyone warily. And a tiny, dark brown-haired boy with glasses perched on his nose was curled up under the coffee table. They were all wearing over-sized T-shirts and nothing else. Adult size clothing was scattered around the floor.

All of them turned to face the adults, and the bigger blond boy came to stand in front of the little girl and the sleeping one protectively. "Stay away!" he demanded.

Natasha's jaw dropped again. "Who are you?"

"I am Thor Odinson, prince of Asgard," the boy replied regally. "Who art thou?"

Slowly, Natasha got down on one knee to be on their level. "My name is Natasha," she said, giving them a smile. "This is my friend Bucky. Can you tell me your names?"

"I'm Diana," the little girl said, giving her a small wave. "Dis is Steeb." She patted the sleeping one's head gently.

"Of course it is," Bucky said, rolling his eyes.

"I'm Cwint," the one on top of the bookshelf said quietly.

"Dat's Bwuce," Diana continued, pointing out the one under the table.

"Of course it is," Bucky said again.

"You hab a metal arm," Clint said, eyes wide. "Dat's so cool."

Thor spoke up. "Did you lose it in battle?"

"Yes I did," Bucky replied cautiously.

Thor nodded. "You are a noble warrior. I like you." He looked at Natasha. "Are you a warrior, lady?"

"Yes I am."

Clint spoke up. "Your pwetty."

"I wike your hair," Diana piped up. "It's wed."

Natasha smiled. "Thank you."

"Are you awe babysitters?" Diana asked.

"Yes we are."

Diana nodded. "Can I hab a snack?"

Natasha smiled. "Of course you can. Anyone else hungry?"

"Me!" Clint piped up, crawling out of the bookshelf.

"Me also!" Thor added.

"Come on," Bucky said, gesturing them to the kitchen.

"What about Steeb?" Diana asked, still holding his hand.

Bucky scooped up the blond-headed boy in his metal arm and tucked him to his chest. "Of course Steeb wants a snack."

Natasha looked at Bruce. "Are you hungry Bruce? You want a snack?"

He looked tiny and terrified under the table, and Natasha could spy hints of green in his eyes.

"Bwuce?" Diana asked, crawling over to him under the table. "Are you scawed?"

A tiny nod, and hints of tears.

"Its okay," Diana said, reaching out to hug him. "We'll take cawe of you. Dere's no scaway stuff no more. Do you wan' to be my fwiend?"

"Okay," Bruce replied.

She smiled. "Good. Wet's go have snack." She carefully led him out from under the table and held hands with him into the kitchen.

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. Even a child-size Hulk would be disastrous. "How did this happen?" she asked JARVIS.

"I am analyzing a sample of the gas," JARVIS replied. "However, I believe Mr. Stark may be able to help us."

"Recall him to the Tower," Natasha ordered. "Besides their age, are they okay?"

"They are in perfect health, approximately four years old."

Natasha nodded. "Okay. I really hope this is temporary."

"As do I, Ms Romanoff."

She walked over to where Bucky was trying to wrangle the five kids into sitting at the dining room table. Steve was awake, and looking around quietly. Thor was standing at the window, still fascinated by the view, and Clint was shouting, "Food! Food!"

"What do we make?" Bucky asked helplessly.

"I don't know. PB and J? Pop-tarts?"

"Pop-tarts?" Diana asked, eyes lighting up.

"Pop-tarts," Natasha and Bucky agreed.

After everyone was settled with the pop-tarts and glasses of milk, Bucky and Natasha moved to the living room to talk.

Bucky swallowed hard. "I don't do well with children," he whispered hoarsely.

"Me either," Natasha replied, keeping an eye on Bruce, who still looked a little shaky. "But we'll have to try."

"Hey, guys, what's up?" Tony asked, strutting into the room. "JARVIS said there was something-" He stared at the five little kids. "What the-"

Natasha slapped her hand over his mouth. "Language," she warned in a voice of steel.

"What's going on?" Tony asked, his eyes wide.

"Didn't JARVIS tell you?"

"He said there was a gas that affected the rest of the team but-" Tony stopped, and his brain finally clicked. "No way."

"Yes way."

"No. Way." He walked over to the little girl. "Diana?"

She beamed up at him. "Hi!" She offered him half a pop-tart. "Snack?"

He took it dazedly. "I... thank you, doll." He walked back to the two Russian spies. "What are we going to do?"

"Take care of them obviously," Natasha said.

"But they're KIDS!" Tony half-yelled, prompting Bucky to poke him in the gut to quiet down. "We can't take care of kids! My child hood was horrible and yours was even worse!"

"But they're our _soulmates_ ," Natasha reminded him. "We _have_ to."

Tony groaned. "Fine. But I'm not changing any diapers."

"Tony, they're like four. There are no diapers."

"Whew. Good. Still. I will not be touching any body fluids."

"Fine. Go work on the gas. JARVIS has a sample waiting. We need to reverse this."

Tony nodded and walked off. "I'm going to reach out to SHIELD. We need all the help we can get."

"All right."

"And for goodness sake order some clothes," Tony said, gesturing to the T-shirts that were falling off the little kids' shoulders. He disappeared into the elevator.

Natasha sighed and looked down. Diana was looking up at her.

"I fowgot you name," Diana said.

"Natasha."

"Na'asha, can we watch a moo-bee?"

"A movie?"

"Yeah."

"JARVIS, put on a Disney movie," Natasha ordered.

"Yes ms Romanoff."

Diana let out a squeak of fright and bolted into Natasha's arms. "Whosat?" she asked.

Natasha hugged her gently. "It's just JARVIS. He's a, uh,"

Bucky spoke up. "He's a helpful voice."

"Helpful voice?" Natasha mouthed to Bucky, rolling her eyes.

He shrugged.

"Is he a compooter?" Bruce asked, the first words he said.

"That's exactly what he is," Bucky said. "Good job guessing, Bruce."

Bruce gave a shy smile and ducked his head.

The start of the Disney movie caught all their attention and Diana pointed to the sofa. "Moobee?"

"Of course little one." Natasha picked up the four-year-old and palced her on the couch. "Cmon guys, sit down and watch the movie."

Everyone sat, and Natasha decided it was okay to leave them there while she and Bucky child-proofed the Tower. She turned to walk away, and was caught by a small hand on her sleeve. "Na'asha?"

She looked at Diana. "Yes, little one?"

"Stay and watch de moobee wif us?"

"I have to go and-"

Diana gave her the most adorable puppy eyes that a four year old could possibly give. "Pweeeeeeeeease?"

Natasha sighed. "I really should be able to resist those eyes. I'm the Black Widow for goodness sake." She sat down next to Diana, and the little girl crawled into her lap.

"Cuddles," Diana demanded, snuggling into Natasha's side.

Clint snuggled into Natasha's other side.

"Bucky?" Steve asked, giving the man the same puppy eyes. "Movie?"

He sighed and sat down. Steve sat next to him one one side, and Thor sat on the other side. Bruce, after some deliberation, crawled up on Natasha's other side.

They watched Disney's _Tangled_ in silence. Afterwards, Thor said quietly, "I am hungry."

"Me too!" four voices chorused.

Natasha and Bucky shared a glance. "Okay. Dinner time."

JARVIS put on some cartoons for the kids to watch. "Bucky, you make some pasta or something, and I'll order some clothes and kid stuff," Natasha ordered.

"Yes ma'am." He gave her a wry grin.

Natasha turned on her tablet and looked through their online shopping program. "J, I need four year old clothes."

The search criteria appeared, and she ordered colorful T-shirts, shorts and cargo pants, socks and underwear, pajamas, and jackets and shoes for the boys and Diana. Natasha, on impulse, also got the little girl a couple cute little dresses and leggings.

"It will be delivered in one hour," JARVIS reported.

"Cool." Natasha checked on the kids. They were intently watching Tom and Jerry, and giggling every few seconds. "Tell me if something happens," she told the computer, and went to the living apartments.

They couldn't have them sleep all in their own apartments, they'd probably end up injured or scared. There was no way they could stay in Natasha's or Clint's apartments since they were stocked with weapons. Tony wouldn't want them in the penthouse. Bruce had far too many research papers in his room. Steve...Steve's was okay. Bucky's was not, he needed the space. But Diana's apartment was perfect. She just had to make sure they didn't touch any of the books.

With the robots' help, Natasha got a few spare mattresses from storage and put them on the floor in Diana's bedroom. A queen size bed, plus two twin sized. Everybody ought to have enough space.

"And if they misbehave they can sleep in the tub," Bucky said quietly, from the doorway.

"Very funny," Natasha deadpanned. "What are you doing here?"

"Pasta's ready."

"Who's watching the kids?"

JARVIS spoke up. "A fight has broken out between the children."

Natasha raced out the door, Bucky on her heels. They found a crying Clint and a teary-eyed Thor. Bruce was crying and Diana was hugging him. Steve was standing in between Clint and Thor, his little arms holding them apart. "What happened?" Natasha demanded.

"Cwint bited Tor," Diana said, looking scared. "And Tor hit him in de stomich. Dey made Bwuce cwy."

Natasha repressed a sigh. "Clint, it's not nice to bite. No more biting people, understand?"

Clint scuffed his toe on the carpet and pouted. "Okay."

"And Thor, even if people are mean to you, you can't hit them, okay? You're bigger than everyone else, you might hurt them. Understand?"

Thor scowled at Clint, then nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Now apologize to Bruce for scaring him, both of you."

"Sowwy, Bwuce."

"Apologies, Bruce."

"S'okay," Bruce said quietly, rubbing his nose with his sleeve.

Natasha picked him up and sat him down at the table. "Okay everybody. Let's eat."

"We has to wash our hands," Steve informed them. "It's dinner time."

Bucky groaned. "Always a stickler for rules, Stevie-o." He picked up the toddler and dangled him over the sink to wash his hands.

"Me next! Me next!"

He lifted them all to wash their hands, and they finally sat down to eat.

Tony came in halfway through pasta. "It looks like a massacre scene," he said, grimacing at the sight of red sauce splattered _everywhere_.

"Any progress?" Natasha asked.

"No. Whatever was in the gas broke down within minutes. We got to it too late." He sat down in the last empty chair and gingerly served himself some spaghetti. "So, how's it going?"

"Good. We'll be getting the clothes soon."

"Good. I called SHIELD, and Coulson said they'll put out some feelers."

"Has anyone considered that this might be a distraction, to keep us from doing something else?" Bucky asked.

"The thought has definitely occurred," Natasha said, nodding.

"Several times, in fact," Tony said. "The Tower is on lockdown, and I've got JARVIS on high alert."

"So all we have to do is wait," Natasha said.

"Yep. Awful isn't it?"

"Done!" Diana declared, showing the adults her empty plate. "I'm tiwed."

"Me too," Steve said.

"Me too," Bruce said, yawning. There was spaghetti sauce on his glasses.

"The clothes have arrived," JARVIS announced. "I have scanned them for explosives and other entrapments. They are clear."

"Send 'em up," Tony said. "We can get these kids into clean clothes."

"First we'll have to bathe them," Natasha said.

"Oh, no," Tony said, eyes widening. "I don't do baths."

Thor gave Tony his plate. "More, please?"

Tony stared in horror at the saucy plate he'd just been _handed_ , and sighed. "Sure, kiddo."

Natasha picked up Diana gingerly. "All right little one, let's go take a bath."

"Wif bubbles?"

"Yes, with bubbles."

"And toys?"

Natasha grimaced. She hadn't thought of getting any toys. "Uhhh, we'll try to find one, okay?"

"Okay."

Natasha filled the bath halfway with warm water and added the lavender bubble bath that grown-up-Diana liked to use on occasion. Thankfully, she knew how to bathe kids, having had practice with Cooper and Lila. The red-head face-palmed. She'd forgotten about Laura and the kids. What was she going to tell them? "Later," she muttered to herself. She turned to Diana with a smile. "Bath time!"

Diana wriggled out of her oversize T-shirt and carefully climbed into the tub. "Do we have any toys?" she asked hopefully.

"Uh..." She looked around. Nothing but a loofah. She looked under the cabinet. There were a few empty containers on the shelf. She rinsed them out in the sink and gave them to Diana, who was waiting patiently. "These work?"

"Yes." Diana took them, unscrewed the lids, inspected them, and added, "Tank you." She lined them up on the rim of the tub and began to fill two with bubbles. The other two she filled with water. One she left empty.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asked, fascinated.

"Making soup," Diana replied matter-of-factly.

Natasha watched, smiling, as Diana mixed and stirred and shook the bubbles and the water together, adding little bits and stirring with her finger. Then Diana picked it up and "drank" it, spilling the water over her neck. "Yum," she said, with pleasure. She refilled the containers, this time adding a tiny drop of shower gel. "Is this much?" she asked.

"I think so," Natasha agreed.

Diana nodded, concentrated, and carefully mixed it together.

"Is the soup going to be good?"

Diana gave her an unimpressed Look. "Dis is _stew_ ," she explained, pointing to the shower gel. "It's very diffwent. Is thicker."

Natasha hid her smile behind her hand. "Oh, I'm sorry, is the _stew_ going to be good?"

"I think so." She "drank" it. "Yep. It was good. You want some?"

"No, thank you."

Diana then proceeded to create a small army of imaginary insect friends, and entertained herself caring for the butterflies and capper-pillars.

"Okay," Natasha said, once her butt started to go numb from sitting on the lid of the toilet. "Washing time."

Diana stared at her. "I'm not winkly yet."

"What?"

The four year old held out her hand. "No winkles," she said. "Like a prune. I always stay in de baf till I'm winkly."

"Not this time," Natasha said kindly but firmly. "I thought you were sleepy?"

Diana closed her little fist and nodded. "Tomowwow can my baf be longer?" she asked, emptying out her play containers and screwing on the lids.

"Sure." Carefully, Natasha shampooed and conditioned the little girl's curls, and handed the little girl the lathered-up loofah. "Can you wash yourself?"

"Yeah. I'se got to gets my belly button." She washed herself, and dunked herself in the water to rinse off. "Did I get it all?"

"Good job," Natasha praised. She emptied the tub and rinsed Diana once more for good measure, and wrapped her up in a fluffy towel. "Come on. Let's go pick out your pajamas."

Diana followed after her, wrapped up in the towel, and stared at the two sets of pajamas on the bed. "Dese mine?"

"Yep. Which ones do you want?" There was a little flower set and a set with animals.

"Horsie."

Natasha helped her into the pj's, and supervised her brushing of her teeth.

Diana scrubbed twice on each side of her mouth and spit. "Done?" she asked hopefully.

"Done," Natasha agreed. She wiped the girl's chin, and said, "All right, bed time."

"Yay!" Diana ran to the bed, crawled into the very middle of it between two pillows, and sat.

"No, lie down, sweetie."

"But stowy!"

Natasha held back a sigh. Of course Diana Lawrence, book nerd extraordinaire, would want a bedtime story. "Which story?"

Diana pointed to one of the books on the shelf. "Pwincesss," she insisted.

"Fairy tale?" Natasha asked, looking for the book.

"No," Diana insisted. "De funny one. De pwincess, and piwate, and, and, oh, oh, he say mawwiage. And de Ow-Oh-You-Esses." She pointed. "De gween one, Na'asha, de gween funny one."

"The Princess Bride?" Natasha asked uncertainly, holding out the thick book.

"Yes!" Diana grabbed it eagerly. "I wead it."

"You can read already?"

Diana gave her another Look. "Of cowse I can wead. Dese awe my books." She pointed at the old copies. "Dey used to be mommy's. She gabe dem to me for weading in nigh-night."

"Why didn't your mom read to you?" Natasha asked softly, sitting next to the little girl as she opened the book to page one.

"Becawse she haf to go working," Diana replied. "She goes work at, at," she pointed at the clock. "At eight fwee zewo, always say bye bye."

"Did you stay by yourself?"

"No. Dat's bad. I stay wif babysitter. She watches tee-bee and talks to fwiends. I no like her." She snuggled into Natasha's side. "I wike you. I wuv you, lots."

Natasha kissed the top of her head, feeling her eyes unexplicably moist. "I love you too, little one," she said quietly.

"I wead now?"

"Yes. You read now." She got off the bed. "Can the other little boys use your bathtub?"

"Yeah. Dey use my toys, too. Make 'speriments."

"Experiments?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah. Wittle pots good for 'speriments, for science!" She dropped the conversation and bent her head to her book. "Dis is my favowit book in the entiwe wold," she spelled out slowly, "th, though I haf nevo wead it." She giggled. "He nevo wead his own book. He's so funny." She gave Natasha a brilliant smile and looked down to read again. "How is s- such a ting po-possi-ble?"

Natasha resisted the urge to cuddle the toddler and scream "You're so CUTE!", and ventured out to the living room. Bucky and Steve were gone, and Tony was watching the other kids watch Tom and Jerry. "Tony," she whispered, beckoning him.

"What?" he whispered back.

"Go look at what Diana's doing," she told him quietly. "It's the cutest thing you'll ever see in your life."

He tiptoed down to Diana's room and peeked in. "She's _reading_?" he asked.

"Basket-ball, baseball, mawbles, I could nevo get enouf," she enunciated slowly. "I wasn't eben g-good at dem, but give me a footbaw, and an empy, no, emp-ty, pway-gwound-"

He snuck back up to the common room. "I think my heart just died of cuteness," he said quietly.

"I know right? I really hope JARVIS is recording all of this stuff. We'll have blackmail for ages." Natasha nodded to the kids. "Where's Bucky and Steve?"

"He went to give him a bath," Tony explained. "Apparently, Bucky would help him even back in the forties when his mom was working."

"Okay, good. That's two down. Which one do you want to bathe?"

Tony's eyes widened. "No. No way."

"Tony, seriously, pick one or I'm picking for you."

"I'll take Thor," Tony said dubiously. "He seems to be the most grown-up out of the lot." He went to poke at the mini-Asgardian. "Come on mini-god, it's your turn to take a bath."

Thor got up and followed Tony obediently. "Will it be warm?" he asked.

"Of course."

"Good."

Thor was easy enough to handle. Tony just filled up the bath and handed him the soap. Thor could bathe himself, and once he was wrapped in the towel and picking out a pair of red pajamas, Tony was able to breathe again. "That wasn't so bad," he said. "Whew."

In the meantime, Nat was bathing Clint in Diana's bathroom. He turned the little containers into submarines and battleships, and had them all battling each other. There was a _lot_ of spilled water by the time his bath was over.

"Okay," Nat said, wrestling him into a pair of brown pajamas. "Bedtime."

"Stowy?" Clint asked.

"Diana will read you a story," Natasha promised. She carried him out to where Diana was still pegging away at The Princess Bride. Steve had joined her on the bed, and was laying there, half-asleep.

"-and dat was how dey discobered I was dewiwious wif pemomia." Diana finished her sentence and looked up. "Hi."

"Hi," Clint said. "Is dat a good stowy?"

"It has football," Steve said sleepily.

"Football!" Clint said, and snuggled in on the other side of Diana. "Wead?"

"Pemonia," she started.

"Pneumonia," Nat corrected. She couldn't help herself.

Now Steve looked interested. "I had dat," he said. "I had pewmonia once. It was bad. It made me hurt, and tired."

Diana looked horrified. "You had pemonia?" She patted his chest. "Hewe?"

"Yeah."

"You feew better now?"

"Yes."

"Good."

"Keep weading," Clint urged. "Steeb is okay."

Natasha smiled and went back out to the living room. Bucky was there, keeping an eye on Bruce. "How about a bath now?" she asked the little boy.

He nodded and held his arms up to be carried.

She picked him up and took him to the bathtub. She filled it, gave him the little containers, and waited to see what he'd do.

"Can I make some 'speriments?" he asked quietly.

"Sure, Bruce. You can make experiments."

He gave her a shy smile, and began to mix his "chemicals", which were soap, bubbles, shampoo, and water. He declared he was making a 'speriment, "to stop people fwom being old," and another one, "to keep from getting sick." Then he yawned. "I wan' to go to sweep," eh said, slurring hsi words.

"Sure," Natasha said gently. She gave him a quick wash and rinse, and propped him up while she pulled the green pajamas over his head. When she went out to the bedroom, Steve was mostly asleep, Clint was halfway there, Thor was listening intently, and Diana was still reading. "Where do you want to sleep?" she asked the tiny scientist in her arms.

"Wif dem." He pointed out the puppy pile of toddlers. "Wanna hear the stowy."

"Okay." She laid him down next to Clint.

"Has it gots any spowts in it?" Diana read, blinking every other word from sleepiness. "Fencing. Fighting. Tow-too. Poison. Twoo luv. Hate. Wevenge. Giants. Huntews. Bad men. Good men. Bootifulest wadies. Snakes. Spidews."

"I wike spidews," Clint murmured sleepily.

Natasha had to smile. "All right kiddos, time for bed."

"But stowy!" Diana said, holding up her book like a shield.

"Aren't you sleepy?" Bucky asked, coming in with a few extra pillows.

"No!" She gave a huge yawn.

Natasha carefully pried the book from her hands. "You can read as much as you want tomorrow," she promised the girl. "But first you have to go to sleep."

"Becawse tomowwow doesn't come wifout sweep," Diana said. "Okay." She snuggled down in the middle of the bed, the covers up to her chin. "Good night."

"Good night," Natasha said, walking over to the light.

"Wait!" Bruce said in a whisper. "You have to tuck us in!"

"You're already in," Natasha said.

"No," Diana corrected. "Check bed fow monstews. Den pull blankies in. Den, nigh-night kisses."

"And song," Thor requested.

"But then will you go to sleep?" Natasha asked.

"Yes."

So Bucky checked under the bed for monsters, Natasha tucked the blankets into the mattress and subtly moved the ones on the floor closer in case someone fell out. And then she kissed each one of them on the forehead.

"Bucky too," Diana added.

He obliged.

"Now song," Thor said, yawning.

"Which song?"

"Sunshine," Diana said.

"Oh, dat's a good song," Bruce agreed.

So, Natasha sang 'You are my sunshine,' and gave Bucky a glare, daring him to say something about her singing voice.

Tony came in at the tail end of the song. "Nice lullaby," he said. "Night kiddos."

"Kiss," Diana demanded.

He backed away. "I don't do kisses." Five sets of puppy eyes nailed him to the door. He melted. "Fine." He gave each forehead a quick peck, and ruffled Bruce's hair. "Good night kiddos."

"Good night," they all chorused, and as if on cue, all of them closed their eyes and fell asleep. Thor started to snor even, though at this size it was more of a slight hum. Bruce curled up with his thumb in his mouth.

"That is the cutest thing I've ever seen," Tony whispered. He took out his phone and snapped a few pictures.

"Let's go before we wake them up," Natasha said, dragging the other two out. "JARVIS, monitor them."

"Of course miss."

Bucky yawned. "That took _forever_."

"It's only nine thirty," Tony said, raising an eyebrow.

"You only had to deal with one of them," Natasha replied, stifling her own yawn. "I'm exhausted. Good night."

"Night."

"Wait, shouldn't one of us stay with the kids?" Tony asked.

"Go on then, Stark," Natasha said, waving him away. "You're the one with the less lethal reflexes."

He groaned. "I didn't mean me!"

"Too bad."

He grumbled his way up to the penthouse, showered, changed into pajamas, grabbed his pillow and a few blankets, and snuck into the bedroom. He picked one of the mattresses, and tried to go to sleep. He couldn't. _Insomnia strikes again_ , he grumbled. He took out his tablet and started working on one of his projects. But the quiet breathing of the five toddlers was hypnotic, and he slowly fell asleep, his tablet still in his hands.

It was midnight when he heard a thump.

Tony's eyes snapped open and he looked around for the source of it. When he saw what it was he started to grin. Thor had rolled out of the bed and landed on the other side of the mattress. He hadn't even woken up.

Tony draped a blanket over him and tucked his feet in. "I am not a nanny," he reminded the sleeping kids, and went back to bed.

A tiny hand patted him on the face an hour later. "Scus me? Toe-mee?"

"Whuh?" He opened his eyes and found dark brown ones staring at him anxiously. "What's wrong Bruce?" he asked groggily.

"I has to go pee," the kid whispered. "And I don't know where de bafroom is."

"Oh." He got up and walked Bruce to the bathroom, carefully stepping around the slumbering Thor. "Can you handle the rest of it?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Okay." Tony hovered in the doorway anyway, and walked him back to bed, and tucked him in. "I'm not your nanny," he said.

"Tank you, Toe-mee," Bruce said sleepily.

"You're welcome." He ruffled his curls. "Go to sleep." He laid back down. Now he was actually sleepy, which was new. He closed his eyes, and wished Pepper was there with him.

A giggle woke him up next. He opened his eyes warily. It was barely even light out. He sat up and found five small faces staring at him. "It's too early to be up," he groaned. "Go back to sleep." He lay back down.

Giggle, giggle, shuffle.

He opened his eyes. "Why aren't you sleeping?" he demanded.

"We wan' cartoons," Clint said.

"And food," Thor added.

He groaned. "Ugh. Fine." He sat up, rubbed his face- and came away with red on his hands. "What!" he yelled, bolting up from bed, panicked that he was bleeding.

The five kids burst into hysterical laughter, nearly falling over each other on the bed. "You, you haf wipstick!" Clint shrieked, pointing, his tiny body shaking with mirth.

Tony bolted to the bathroom and stared at himself in horror. He had bright red lipstick drawn all over his face, and dark purple lipstick on his actual mouth. There was glitter on his forehead and what looked like eyeliner on his cheeks. And somehow, they'd tangled a little silver bow onto his hair. He tugged at the bow and tried to rub the makeup off at the same time. "Why didn't you wake me up?" he demanded of his AI.

"I thought you were dead, frankly sir, to have slept through that," JARVIS replied snarkily. "They have been up for nearly an hour. Diana, Bruce, and Thor have been taking turns reading. Until they got bored, and decided to give you a makeover."

"Don't let Natasha in here," Tony said frantically, grabbing a paper towel and trying to wipe it off.

"Too late," Natasha said smugly, from the doorway. "That glitter's a nice touch."

"What grown woman even _has_ glitter?" Tony asked despairingly.

Natasha held up a glittery eyeshadow. "Everybody, Tony. Say cheese!" And she snapped a picture of him. "To, Pepper Potts."

"No!" He made a grab for the phone, and missed. "Don't you dare Romanoff!"

"Too late. your technology is much too efficient." Natasha smirked at him. "Fitzsimmons are on the line. They want to talk to you about the gas."

"Be there in a second- _how_ does this come off?!"

Natasha handed him a makeup remover wipe. "Like this."

"Oh."

"All right kiddos," Natasha said, walking into the bedroom, where the kids were having a pillow fight, "who wants breakfast?"

"YAY!"


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Second half of the De-aged!Avengers plotline. More fluff, a little adventure.**

The kids had a hearty breakfast of pancakes and milk, and then Natasha set them up with a giant floor puzzle that JARVIS had ordered, leaving Bucky to supervise. Then she went to check on Tony. He was still in deep discussion with the two adorable scientists, and they were talking about 'reverse genetics' and 'so not my area, but we'll give it a shot anyway', 'perhaps we can refer to Dr. So-and-so of...' She left them to their discussion.

She went back to the kids and found the puzzle completely assembled and the kids crawling all over it like maniacs, pretending to be spaceships or something. "Go go go!" Clint was screeching, from an eagle eye position on Bucky's shoulder.

She watched them pile into each other, and they all started giggling. "Owie," Diana said, but she was still smiling.

"You okay?" Bruce asked, sitting in front of her anxiously.

She touched her forehead. "I'm okay," she said.

"Are you sure?" Natasha asked, kneeling in front of her. "Can I see it?" She pressed lightly on her forehead in one spot. "Does this hurt?"

"No."

"How about this?"

"Ow."

It was the very center of her forehead, possibly bruised. "How about we put some ice on it?" Natasha asked, picking Diana up and settling her on her hip.

"Okay."

Natasha wrapped a colorful towel around the frozen gel pack and held it to Diana's forehead. "I know it's cold but you've got to keep it on your head, okay?"

"Okay."

Natasha took her back to the living room and set her on the couch. "All right, listen up," she said, kindly but firmly, getting the attention of all the boys. "I want you to be more careful with Diana, okay? We don't want her to get hurt, right?"

"Wight," four voices chorused.

"Good."

Steve clambered up onto the sofa and sat next to her. "Does it hurt a lot?" he asked.

"Not a lot, just a little." She put the ice down for a second, her little arm growing tired.

"Oh no!" Steve said, eyes widening in horror. He reached out but didn't touch. "Your fo-head is colored. You has bruise."

"Weally? What color is it?" she asked, intrigued.

"Gween, and purple," Steve said. He looked a little watery-eyed. "I sorry you got hurts."

"Is okay, Steeb," she said, giving him a smile. "It was a accident."

"You sure?"

"Yes, I sure."

Natasha watched their interaction with a fond smile. Even as toddlers, they cared for each other. And so did the three other toddlers. They were more careful around Diana, and they were extra nice to her for the rest of the day, making sure they didn't bump into her head.

"Whoa, what happened to you, doll?" was the first thing Tony asked, when he saw the purple bruise at lunch.

"It was a accident," she repeated. She looked up at him with puppy eyes. "Kiss it make it better?"

He pressed a gentle kiss to her bruise. "Better?"

She nodded, beaming.

In the afternoon, they released the toddlers into the training room, which was just a large room covered with foam mats and padding that the Avengers used to spar with each other. Diana, predictably, insisted on bringing her book, and she sat and read with Bruce, who didn't want to play tag. The adults decided this was a good thing, since they didn't know if he could become the Hulk as a toddler if his heart rate got to be too much, and they didn't want to find out.

Before they knew it, it was evening, and - "there's no food in the house," Bucky said despairingly.

"What do you mean there's no food?" Tony asked, turning pale.

"It was Clint and Steve's turn to go grocery shopping," Bucky said, face-palming. "All we've got is... broccoli?"

"They'll never go for it," Natasha said quietly, shaking her head. "I'll go to the store, you two take care of the kids."

"You can't leave us alone with them!" Tony said, panicking. "What if one of them gets hurt?"

"You kiss it and make it better, Stark," Natasha replied. "You're two grown men, you can handle five little kids."

"I don't know about this,' Bucky said nervously.

"You'll be fine." She started to walk away. "JARVIS, keep 911 on speed dial," she murmured quietly.

"I heard that!" Bucky yelled from the kitchen.

"Na'asha! Na'asha! Where you going?" Clint asked, running over to her and latching onto her leg.

She ruffled his hair. "I'm going grocery shopping, little one. I'll be back in a bit."

"Can I go wif you? Please? I'll be good." He started to make puppy eyes.

She sighed. "You promise?"

"I pwomise."

"Okay. Come on." She picked him up and he wrapped his arms around her neck happily.

"Yay."

As soon as they got to the car Natasha realized there was a problem. "Car seat," she muttered, wondering how she was going to get Clint back upstairs without him pitching a fit.

"Already in the car, Ms Romanoff," JARVIS supplied. "I ordered them this morning."

"You're a lifesaver, J."

"Thank you miss."

She buckled Clint into the booster seat and they headed to the store. "What should we have for dinner?" she asked him.

He smiled cheerfully. "Pizza."

Meanwhile back at the tower, the two adults had put on some cartoons for the kids and scrounged up some building blocks that used to be Tony's. They were now making a castle, complete with windows and everything.

Diana was working with Thor, passing him the blocks so that he could put on the roof.

"I'm hungwy," Bruce announced, a little bit later.

Tony and Bucky shared a glance. "How about an apple?" Tony suggested.

"I don't wan' a apple."

"How about some peanut butter on toast?" Bucky asked.

"Wif marshmallows?"

Tony shook his head. "You'll spoil your dinner."

"Don't care," Bruce replied rebelliously, his little hands balling up into fists.

The two adults shared a glance. Somebody was getting hangry. "What if we just wait for Clint and Natasha to come back?" Bucky asked soothingly.

"No!" Bruce yelled, drawing the attention of the other kids.

Thor stepped subtly in front of Diana, frowning.

"Calm down Bwuce," Steve said softly. "We can have food in a bit."

Bruce scrubbed at his eyes as they welled with tears. He was having a meltdown, probably culminating from the stress and the change of the last two days, and Tony and Bucky knew that it would probably end in a Hulk out. This was no good.

"Get the kids out of here," Bucky told Tony out of the corner of his mouth. "I'll try to get Bruce to the Hulk out room."

"Right." Tony went around the crying Bruce and picked up Diana, settling her on his hip. "Let's go up to my floor" he said, "we can play a fun board game." He tried to usher Steve and Thor out of the room.

Bucky knelt down in front of Bruce, reaching out for him hesitantly. "Shh, it's okay, Bruce."

"Don't touch me!" Bruce shrieked, jerking backwards. He tripped over the carpet, and fell on the floor, curled up on himself. The whole room went entirely still, and before their eyes, the four-year-old Bruce turned into a miniaturized version of the Hulk who was about four feet tall and still rippling with muscle and rage.

Diana screamed as Bruce transformed, and Thor and Steve both let out a yell of surprise. "Bwuce!" Diana yelled, starting to cry.

The Hulk roared back at them, and launched himself towards Tony and the kids. "Hulk no!" Bucky yelled, grabbing at him with his metal arm, hoping to stop the kid.

He succeeded in slowing him down, and Tony grabbed the other two boys and hustled out of there. "JARVIS, lock down the room!" he ordered. "Call Natasha back to the Tower!"

"Right away sir."

Tony cradled the crying Diana to his chest. "It's okay sweetheart," he said soothingly, rubbing her back. "It's okay."

"What happened to Bwuce?" Steve asked, clinging to Tony's leg anxiously. Thor stood on the other side of Tony, looking anxious as well.

Tony sighed and scrubbed at his face with his free hand. "Bruce is a little different," he said. "When he gets upset or angry, he turns into the Hulk."

"The green monster?" Thor asked.

"He's not a monster," Tony said gently. "He's a good guy, he's just a little unpredictable. And Bruce was tired and hungry, so he didn't feel good, that's all."

"What do we do?" Steve asked. "How do we make him feel better?"

"Well, Bucky's going to take care of him while he's the Hulk, to make sure that he doesn't hurt himself, okay? We just have to let the Hulk smash stuff for a bit." Tony patted Steve's head reassuringly. "And when the Hulk calms down and gets tired, he'll become Bruce again. Everything's going to be fine."

"Pwomise?" Diana asked, her voice muffled in Tony's shirt. She let out a sniffle.

"I promise," he said, hoping he hadn't just made himself into a liar. "Let's go downstairs, yeah?" He put on a Disney movie and tried to set Diana down so that he could check on Bucky and the Hulk from a different room.

"No," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck in a vise-like grip.

"C'mon baby doll, I have to go check on Bucky and Bruce. Sit down here with Steve and Thor,, okay?"

"No," Diana said stubbornly. "I wanna stay wif you." She let out another despairing sniffle and wrapped her fingers into his shirt.

Tony pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Okay, doll. You can stay with me." He figured that Diana would be able to feel Bruce and the Hulk's emotions through their soul bond, and resigned himself to having a preschool limpet attached to his collar. He left Steve and Thor on the couch and went into the other room. "J, pull up the security footage?"

Inside the lockdown room, Bucky was sitting curled in a corner, holding his metal arm like a shield in front of his body. Completely ignoring him was the mini sized Hulk, rampaging on the rest of the room. The furniture in the room was destroyed, and the floor and walls had a few holes in them. "Hulk tiny!" he yelled. "Why Hulk tiny! Hulk like puny Banner now! Why Banner tiny!"

Tony's jaw dropped, and Bucky looked equally shocked in the corner. "Intercomm," Tony ordered softly. "Hey big guy," he said.

Hulk's gaze snapped up to the ceiling. "Metal Man!" he snarled. "Where?"

"I'm somewhere else. I'm taking care of Diana. You remember Diana, big guy?"

"Soul," Hulk agreed, calming down slightly.

Diana looked up from Tony's shoulder, interested now she'd heard her name.

"Yeah, soul," Tony agreed. "Do you remember what happened to you?"

"Hulk big," the Hulk said. "Banner big. All big. Then sleep, and Banner puny. Hulk puny!" He growled irritably and smashed a hole in the wall. "Metal man fix!" he demanded.

Tony was amazed that the Hulk could remember everything, and was apparently the same old Hulk, just smaller. "I will totally fix this, big guy," he agreed. "But to do that, I need Banner back. Can you calm down?"

"No calm!"

"Pwease, Hulk," Diana piped up, wiping her eye with her sleeve.

The Hulk froze, and looked up. "Soul?" He started to lose his green tinge, and he began to shrink. Before their eyes, he turned back into Bruce, laying completely unconscious on the floor.

"Good job," Tony praised, hugging Diana tightly.

"Can we go see him?" Diana asked, her little brow wrinkled with worry.

"Sure we can."

By the time they got up there, Bucky had wrapped Bruce up in a blanket and was carrying him out of the trashed room. "Don't go in there," he said softly, holding Bruce to his chest securely. "There's a lot of broken glass and wood splinters."

"Okay. Let's get him to bed," Tony said, nodding.

Natasha came rushing in at that moment, Clint on her hip. "What's-" she started, and then she took in the scene. She slumped. "Oh."

"Everything's okay," Bucky assured her quietly. "Nobody got hurt and the room's not too damaged."

Tony put a reluctant Diana down. "Give me Bruce and I'll put him to bed while you guys feed the kiddos," he said, taking the sleeping four year old. "We don't want any more hangry meltdowns."

"Okay." Bucky picked up a vulnerable looking Diana. "Come on sweetheart."

"We got pizza," Clint informed the little girl.

Tony walked down to Diana's room, and carefully dressed Bruce in a pair of pajamas. The exhausted child didn't even wake up. he got a glass of water from the bathroom and left it by the bed. "J, keep an eye on him. Tell me when he's starting to wake up."

"ye sir."

Tony went downstairs, and found them just starting to serve pizza on paper plates, with apple juice. Diana was now cuddled in Natasha's arms, and carefully chewing her slice of pepperoni. "Is Bwuce still sweeping?" Diana asked, as soon as she saw Tony.

"Yes he is."

Natasha rubbed the little girl's back. "You feel better now?" she asked.

"Yah." Diana ate her pizza contently.

After they ate and made sure to leave enough for Bruce when he woke up, they retired to the nearest living room to watch a movie. "Will you watch the kids while we go clean up?" Tony asked.

Natasha nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."

They went off to get started on repairs to the room, and Natasha sat on the couch with the four toddlers.

It was a few hours later that JARVIS announced, "Young Bruce is awakening."

Natasha tensed, and Diana fairly jumped off the couch. "Bwuce!" she said, looking at Natasha expectantly.

Nat led the way to the bedroom, the other kids all following behind, and she peeked into the room. Bruce was just barely stirring, fatigue in every stiff movement. "Hey Bruce," she said, moving into the room, the kids still huddling behind her.

He opened his eyes and blinked a couple times. "Wha happene?" he asked, slurring his words.

"You were gween," Diana said helpfully. She crawled up onto the bed and went over to Bruce "You okay?"

"I'm tiwed."

"S'okay, Bwuce," Diana said, smiling at him brilliantly. "You wan' some pizza?"

"Its pepperoni," Steve added.

Bruce looked interested. "Pizza?"

Natasha picked him up and let him nestle into her arms. "Pizza," she affirmed. "Come on."

The others were quiet as she fed Bruce a piece of pizza, and then he fell asleep again.

"Can I has a nap too?" Diana asked, yawning.

"Me too?" Steve asked.

"And me," Clint said, not to be out done.

"Sure. Naptime, guys." She laid Bruce in the bed and tucked everyone in next to him. "What about it Thor? Naptime?"

He frowned. "I don't take naps." He stifled a yawn. "Maybe today," he agreed, and crawled into the bed.

"Na'asha, nap with us?" Diana asked.

She nodded. "I'll stay with you guys."

They all scooted over to leave room on the bed, and she let Thor and Clint snuggle up to her. "All right, nap," she said, ruffling Clint's hair.

To her surprise, she dozed off, surrounded by all the little space heaters, and the only reason she woke up was the snick of a camera shutter. She opened her eyes to find tony and Bucky in the doorway, Tony putting his phone away. "Go away," she mouthed, shooing them out.

Bucky gave her a fond smile before he followed Stark out the door.

Naptime ended at around three, and everyone gradually woke up and went to play. Bruce just wanted to sit on the sofa, wrapped in a blankie, and Diana sat with him, and they both read their own books while the boys ran around.

They fed the kids grilled cheese sandwiches and watched a Disney movie before bathing all the kids again, and tucking them into bed. This time Bucky read the story, and Natasha sang, and they all kissed the kids on the forehead.

Pepper came back from Malibu that night. "Is Diana up? I brought her a few-"

"Don't go in there!" Bucky and Tony hissed, grabbing at her gently. "They just went to sleep!"

"Who just went to sleep? _They_?"

"The kids," Natasha explained. "Shh." She opened the door quietly and let Pepper see the five toddlers all snoozing. She closed the door again.

"Who are they?" Pepper asked, leaning against the wall.

"Uh... Thor, Bruce, Diana, Steve, and Clint," Tony said. "We still don't know how it happened, but in the meantime we're just taking care of them. Bruce hulked out today so we're all trying to recover from that. It was an early bedtime."

"Kids?" Pepper echoed.

"They're really cute," Tony added. He checked the time. "If one of you can sleep with them tonight, I'm headed to the lab. There are some more tests I need to run."

"I'll stay," Natasha volunteered.

Pepper went down with Tony to the lab, and Bucky went to work out. That left Natasha sleeping on one of the mattresses on the floor. She didn't want to sleep in case of nightmares, so she sat up reading one of the novel's from Diana's shelves.

It wasn an hour or two later that one of the toddlers sat up. It was Diana, panicking. "Bucky!"

"Shh, what's wrong, baby?" Natasha asked, picking her up out of the bed quickly, so as not to wake the others.

"Dere's someting wrong wif Bucky," Diana replied, still half-asleep, tears sliding down her little chubby cheeks. "We have to go safe him."

Natasha frowned. If Bucky was having a nightmare she didn't want the toddlers anywhere near him.

"Na'asha pleeese," Diana insisted.

"Okay, come on." They walked out. "J, what's Bucky's status?"

"He is having a nightmare," JARVIS reported.

They came to the door and cautiously went in. Bucky was on his stomach, mumbling and writhing in his sleep.

"Bucky," Natasha said firmly.

Nothing.

"Bucky!" Diana called, a moment later.

It was the sound of his soulmate that woke him, and he jolted up in bed, tears on his cheeks and still disoriented. He stared at Natasha and Diana, frozen, and then slumped back on the headboard. "What's wrong?" he asked.

"Nothing," Natasha said. "She could sense you were having a nightmare and wanted to save you."

Diana wriggled down from Natasha's hold impatiently and ran to Bucky's side. "You had a nightmare?" she asked, nestling into his side.

He held her close, pressing a kiss to her hair. "Yes I did. Thank you for waking me."

"You okay now?" she asked earnestly, reaching up to put her arms around his neck.

He hugged her tightly, and surreptitiously wiped a tear from his eye. "Yes, doll, I'm okay now."

"Good." She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Come on, little one, back to bed," Natasha coaxed, coming over to pick her up.

"You come with us?" Diana asked.

Bucky looked at her uncertainly. "I don't know."

"Come on, Bucky, keep me company," Natasha said, giving him a smile.

He smiled back. "All right, I will."

They tucked Diana back in, and sat down side by side on one of the mattresses. Silently, Natasha handed him a Stark tablet with a 3D chess board. "Your move," she mouthed.

Bucky grinned.

They played chess the rest of the night, keeping vigil over their teammates and keeping the nightmares at bay.

It was three in the morning when Tony burst into the room. "I've got it!" he yelled, looking for all the world like a crazy scientist.

Natasha gave him a murderous glare, but it was too late. Bruce and Diana woke up crying from fright, and Thor buried himself under the covers. Clint didn't even stir, and Steve just murmured a sleepy, "shhh."

"Oh, oh, I'm sorry, sorry," Tony said, panicking. He scooped Diana from the bed and cuddled her to his chest. "I'm sorry doll, shhh, it's okay." He moved away to let Natasha pick up Bruce.

"Tonyyyy," she whined, burying her face in his shoulder.

"It's okay doll, it's okay, I didn't mean to wake you up, I'm sorry, just go back to sleep."

She sniffled a couple more times and wrapped her arms around his neck. "What did you get, Tony? Why you yell?"

"I figured something out," he said quietly, catching Bucky and Natasha's eyes. "The gas compound that reversed their ages. I've got it." He started to explain his process.

"Can you reverse engineer it?" Bucky asked.

"Yes. If I work on it some more. I just wanted to let you know we're half way home." Tony pressed a kiss to Diana's forehead. She had fallen back asleep during his lengthy explanation. "I wish I could keep her this size. Just think. A cute little soulmate, pocket edition, that we could cuddle with all the time."

Natasha brushed Diana's hair off her forehead. "You know that can't happen, Tony." She looked wistful, too.

"Yeah I know." He carefully laid the toddler back on the bed and tucked her in. "Anyway. Back to the lab."

He spent another twenty hours in the labs, only eating when Pepper dragged him out, and he finally emerged, triumphant, with a row of vials filled with dark blue liquid. "Don't ask me why it's blue," he said, bringing it down to the common floor.

"Is that it?" Natasha asked, moving around him to grab the blender.

"Yep. Guaranteed to bring everybody back to their grown up selves. I tested it on a couple mice and they're totally fine." Tony looked over at the kids, grinning. "JARVIS, get a picture of this, okay?"

"Yes sir."

Bucky was on the floor, doing pushups, with Diana, Clint and Steve sitting on his back. Bruce and Thor were each sitting on one of his legs. They all giggled each time he counted off. "12," giggle, "13," giggle, "14," he gave an exaggerated huff and they all shrieked with laughter, "92," giggle, "47," giggle.

"Bucky you're not counting right!" Steve declared, hanging over Bucky's shoulder, his blond hair flopping into face.

"Am too."

"Am not."

"Am too." Bucky dropped to the ground and lay there, the kids all still sitting on him. "What number did I get to then, smarty pants?"

"16," Steve said.

"Smarty pants."

"Smoothie!" Natasha declared, and the kids all scrambled to the dining room. Bucky got up, brushed off his clothes, and followed, swinging Steve on his metal arm like some sort of monkey.

They got the kids all set slurping their smoothies and the three adults looked at the vials. "That it?" Bucky asked.

"Yep."

"Why's it blue?"

Tony groaned. "I don't know. I just know that it works."

"All right. Let's get it over with," Natasha said. "Come on guys." She herded the kids away from the table. "Where do you want to do this?"

"In the med labs, we'll be able to deal with any adverse effects."

"Will there _be_ adverse effects?" Bucky asked dangerously.

"No," Tony said. "Let's do it one at a time so we can see how it goes. What if someone's allergic to something?" He looked at the kids. "Who wants to go first?"

"For what?" Steve asked.

"Uh…nap time," Bucky said

"Me!" Thor said.

"Coolio," Tony said, taking his hand. "Let's go over here." He took him down to the medical wards, put him on a bed in one of the private rooms, and carefully injected him with the contents of the vial.

Thor scowled. "I'm sleepy..." He was out like a light.

"How long will it take to take effect?" Natasha asked over the comm.

"Uh..." Tony stared as the mini Thor began to grow before his very eyes. he kept growing and growing, muscles rippling back, hair growing longer, until Thor, in all his princely glory, was back to normal. He shifted in his sleep and sighed. "J, scans?"

"All scans show normal," JARVIS replied.

Tony reached out to jostle Thor's shoulder. "Hey. Hey, Thor, buddy. Wake up."

Thor woke up, groaned, and sat up. "What happened?" he rumbled. "My head is pounding."

"What's the last thing you remember?" Tony asked.

"There was this gas..." he trailed off. "Wait. We were drinking smoothies. I was... small?" He sat on the edge of the bed and looked at Tony, completely bewildered. "Was it all a dream?"

"Nope," Tony said gleefully. "You were cute and tiny and needed help to bathe."

Thor smirked. "Would you believe me when I say it's happened before?"

"You've been turned into a child before?" Tony asked, jaw dropping.

"Loki's powers were varied." Thor sighed and stretched. "Where are the others?"

"Still tiny."

"May I see them?" Thor asked. "I would like to see Diana as a child."

"Sure, big guy. You can send Natasha down with the next kiddo." Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "It's good to have you back."

Thor headed up to the common room, and found himself surrounded by tiny versions of his teammates.

Diana's eyes went to the size of saucers. "You big Thor!"

"Yes I am, little one." He knelt down to her size and picked her up with ease. He stood up and turned to Natasha. "Tony is ready for the next one."

"All right." She turned to the kids. "Who wants to be big, next?"

"Me!" they all chorused.

"All right, in order of height," Bucky decided. "Steve you're up."

Steve came back, all six feet of him, and swooped Diana into his arms. "Hey, doll," he said, kissing her on the head.

She smiled at him and snuggled into his arms. "Hi Steeb."

It was Bruce's turn next. Thankfully, he didn't Hulk out during the transformation, and after a quick hug for his pocket-sized soulmate, he went down to the lab to try and figure out why the Hulk had retained his memories, but not Bruce himself.

Clint was returned to his proper size, hugged Natasha fiercely, swept Diana into a tickle fight and a hug, and went off to call Laura.

"All right, doll your turn," Steve said, given the go-ahead from Tony.

"I'll be big now?" Diana asked.

Before Steve could answer, the alarm to assemble began to ring. "Hill, sit rep," he ordered.

"There is a fight on the other side of Manhattan," Hill replied. "Based on facial recognition and patterns of movement, JARVIS thinks one of the instigators is the same person who planted the de-aging device in the Tower. Facial recognition places him as a new member of SI, worked here for only three weeks before the incident."

"He was a plant," Tony said, coming up from the med lab.

"They must've wanted the Avengers out of the way for this," Steve realized. "That's why they de-aged us. All right, everyone. Wheels up in ten." Then he remembered about the small girl clinging to his neck. "Hill, do you think one of us can stay back?"

"I do not believe so, captain."

"All right. Get up here to take care of Diana." Steve took Diana to the locker rooms, just to keep her close, and she watched in fascination as everyone pulled on tactical suits and strapped on weapons.

"You gonna fight bad guys?" she asked, staring up at a fully suited Captain America.

"Yes we are," he replied gently.

"I don't wike it," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder. "Don't get hurt, okay Steeb? Nobody get hurt."

"I won't," he said. "I promise." He kissed her cheek. "We'll be back, all right? In the meantime, you stay with Maria." He gestured to Hill, who looked more nervous about watching Diana than the Avengers going off to fight.

The four year old's eyes filled with tears watching everyone go. "Be safe," she told Natasha, hugging her tightly. "Keep Steeb safe."

"Don't worry, little one," Natasha said, pressing a kiss to the girl's hair. "We'll keep him safe, just for you." She put Diana back on the ground.

And they were gone. Diana started to cry silently, tears slipping down her cheeks, chin wobbling.

Maria stared down at her young charge uncertainly. She had no experience with children. The whole time the Avengers were de-aged she'd been swamped handling all the paperwork and management it usually took all six Avengers to accomplish. "Don't cry," she said, in what she hoped was a comforting tone. "They'll be okay."

Diana looked up at her miserably and put her arms up to be held. "Cuddles," she demanded, sniffling.

Maria picked her up, took her to command ops, ordered one of the former SHIELD agents to get Diana cookies and a chapter book, and ran point on the comms. It was going relatively well. The bad guys were no match for the Avengers in battle, hence their de-aging tactic. JARVIS had started pulling up info on 'em, and things started to make sense. Bankrolled by HYDRA, thse guys were supposed to be testing new weapons. Deciding to start with New York was not one of their more intelligent ideas.

"Hawkeye, you got eyes on the target?" Steve asked, over comms, blocking a blast from one of the alien-inspired weapons the bad guys were using.

"Yep. I'm at a bad angle, going to move in closer."

"Copy that. Thor, cover him."

"Aye."

On the screen, Maria watched as Bucky blocked a bullet with his metal arm. "Easy, Barnes, that thing's not indestructible."

"It's the closest thing to it!" Tony protested, overhearing.

"How's our soul?" Steve asked.

Maria glanced over. "She stopped crying. She's fine."

"You have her in the control room with you?" Steve yelled, his anger and concern lending strnength to his moves as he went after one of the bad guys.

"She's reading a book, not even facing the screens, relax," Maria replied. "I don't think she can even hear me right now."

Tony smirked inside his suit. "That's our girl."

They cleaned up the fight within another forty minutes, and as soon as the authorities moved in to take the HYDRA operatives, the Avengers were on their way back.

Maria was waiting for them, holding back an impatient Diana. "You back!" she said excitedly, launching herself at all seven Avengers and trying to hug them all at once. She grabbed onto Bucky, who had a black eye. "You hurt?"

"Just a little bit," he assured her. "It'll go away very soon."

She pressed a very, very light kiss to his eyebrow. "It get better soon."

All her soulmates received hugs and kisses for their scrapes and bruises, and then, "I get big now?" Diana asked, from the safety of Steve's arms. "I need to be big now."

"Why, doll?" Steve asked, intrigued.

"Because big I can take cawe of you," she replied, touching his healing scrape gently.

He smiled at her fondly. "All right. Let's go see Tony."

She didn't like needles, so Steve distracted her with a story while Tony gave her the antidote. She fell asleep, and Steve watched as she returned to her normal, twenty four year old self, still sleeping soundly.

He kissed her gently. "Diana."

She woke up and squinted at him. "Steve?" She sat up and swung her legs off the bed. "Why are we in- did I hit my head again?"

Tony laughed. "No, you didn't. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Uh..." She glanced at their tired faces. "You were just in battle. I was little and you left me with Maria and I was-" Her jaw dropped. "We were all- wow." She stared at them. "Wow. That was... I can officially say that was the weirdest thing to have ever happened to me in my entire life."

"Tell me about it," Steve said. "It even tops being asleep for seventy years."

"Is everyone okay?" Diana asked, standing up and inspecting him and Tony. "Everyone relatively uninjured?"

"Yeah, we're okay."

"So who were they?"

"You don't remember?" Tony teased. "You were in mission control the whole time."

"Was I?" Diana asked, shocked. "I don't remember."

"What book were you reading?" Steve asked.

"The BFG," she responded automatically.

"That's why you didn't remember," Steve said, smirking. "You'd ignore Armageddon falling around you if you had a good book."

Diana blushed. "Whatever." She dodged his kiss. "No kissing until you don't smell like sweat and gunpowder. Those are the rules."

Steve pouted. "I don't wike it."

Tony, who'd been on his way out, froze. " _What_ did you say, Cap?" he asked, turning back to them with a wicked grin.

Steve blushed up to the roots of his hair. "Nothing."

Tony started to cackle. "JARVIS, please tell me you got that."

"Indeed, sir."

"Ha!" Tony raced out of the med ward to show it to the others.

Steve groaned and put his head in his hands. "I'm never gonna live that down..."

Diana smirked at him fondly. "Nope, you're not."


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Short chapter, mostly fluff before the next big plot point. Enjoy!**

Diana woke up a few days later feeling tired. She woke up, checked the clock, and decided she could sleep another hour or two. She closed her eyes, and was instantly asleep.

"Diana?" Gentle fingers stroked her cheek. "Diana?"

She woke up slowly, and yawned. "Steve?" she asked, sitting up, trying to stretch and curl up at the same time.

He smiled at her. "Good morning, sleepyhead."

"G'morning." She yawned again. "What time is it?"

"It's ten o'clock."

"What?" She glanced at the clock. "It was seven, like, two minutes ago."

Steve chuckled. "That's what you get when you stay up late to read."

She grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, yeah. Is there still breakfast?"

"That's what I came down here to tell you. We're making waffles."

"Was everybody late this morning?" she asked, dragging herself out of bed and tying the green robe around her waist.

"Just Tony, Bruce, Clint, Thor, and you. So yeah, everybody."

"You and Natasha are so weird," she muttered half-heartedly, tying her hair into a messy bun. "You're _morning_ people. Ugh. Lead me to the waffles and coffee."

Steve smirked, and then swooped down and picked her up, bridal-style. "How about I just carry you? It's faster that way."

She muffled her laugh into his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his neck. "That works, too," she agreed, pressing a kiss to his neck and closing her eyes again. She was so tired...

"Ah, Sleeping Beauty awakes!" Tony said cheerfully, as they entered the dining room. "Thought we'd have to take an air horn in there."

Diana slipped into a chair and rolled her eyes at him. "As if, Tony. All you'd have to do is get JARVIS to play the _Friends_ theme song and I'd wake up."

"JARVIS, note that for future reference," Tony said.

"Yes sir."

They had waffles. Diana sat there quietly and ate them, a dull headache pounding behind her eyes.

"Diana?" Bruce asked quietly. "You all right?"

"I'm just tired," she replied, giving him a brief smile. She stood up to put her plate away and start cleaning up.

Bruce took her plate. "Take it easy today, okay?" he asked. "We'll clean up. You sit down."

She went to the sofa, and lay down on it. "Hey JARVIS, what's on TV?"

"Everything, Miss Lawrence."

She smirked. "Find me a nice fun movie, will you?"

National Treasure appeared on TV, and Bucky, Steve, and Thor came to watch it with her, but she couldn't concentrate. Everything hurt, and she was cold. "Steve, can I have a blanket?" she asked, huddling into his side. "I'm really cold."

He frowned down at her. "You're hot."

She gave him a wry smile. "Thank you, love, but no really. I'm freezing."

"No, I mean, your skin feels hot." He pressed a hand to her forehead. "You've got a fever."

"Do not," she protested childishly.

Bucky held up a blanket and wrapped her up.

"Ow, not so tight," she protested, loosening it. "My skin hurts-" She realized what she was saying. She was exhausted, her skin hurt, she had a fever... "I think I've got the flu." She collapsed on the couch. "It's not fair. Every year. This happens every year. I get the flu shot, I don't work in a school, but I get it every single year." She huddled miserably into her blanket. "We can fight aliens and make super-soldiers but we can't cure the flu. What a time to be alive."

Thor knelt in front of her. "Let us consult Bruce, first, before jumping to conclusions?" he asked, holding out a hand to help her up.

"It's the flu," Bruce agreed, after a cursory examination. "Go back to bed."

"Bruuuuceee," she whined, "can't you make a miracle pill?"

He chuckled and kissed her forehead. "Nope, sorry. Get lots of rest,"

"Lots of liquids, don't eat heavy things or you'll puke, take pain meds, yeah, yeah." She shuffled off, yawning. "See y'all in a week." She was surprised when Thor, Bruce, and Steve got in the elevator with her. "What are you doing?" she asked, as Steve wrapped an arm around her waist. She pushed him away. "I'll get you sick. You don't want the flu."

"Diana, doll, we can't actually get sick," Steve said, gesturing to the others. "The only ones who can get sick are Clint and Tony. Everyone else has the supersoldier serum, or the Hulk, or Asgardian blood."

"Oh yeah." She perked up. "Does that mean I won't be alone for a week?"

"We will stay with you," Thor promised.

"You guys are the best." She got back into bed, and Bucky stayed with her while Thor and Steve went to make soup and scrounge for flu-fighting medication. "Bucky?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I have your hand?"

He held out his right hand.

"No, no, the other one."

"Why?" he asked uncomfortably. He still wasn't used to her absolute acceptance of it.

"Just cuz. It's cold." She grabbed his metal hand and placed it on her forehead, sighing with relief. "Ahhh, yes. Bucky, you're amazing."

"Glad I could help," he replied quietly, stroking her forehead and moving her hair off her face.

Thor came back with chicken buillion in a cup and some Tylenol, and a large glass of water. "Steve has gone to the store for stronger flu medicine and some crackers," he said.

"I love you guys, seriously," Diana said, taking the Tylenol and sipping at the warm chicken bullion. "J, can you put National Treasure back on?"

"Of course Miss Lawrence."

She dozed, half awake, half out of it, and ended up curling into Thor's side. He was radiating heat like the Asgardian furnace that he was, and she was freezing.

When she woke up, it was even worse. Her skin felt hot and dry, but she was sweating, and all her joints hurt. Her headache was back, and she felt like throwing up. She stifled a wave of nausea, but couldn't hold it, and then she was throwing up into a bin someone had shoved in her face.

"Shh," a quiet voice said, rubbing her back. "Shhh, just breathe. It's okay." It was Steve, rubbing her back and holding her hair.

She finished throwing up all of this morning's waffles, and dropped back on the bed, feeling like someone had dropped her off a building. "Steve," she whispered, feeling embarrassed, but too tired to blush.

"It's all right." He picked her up and carried her to the bathroom. "Rinse your mouth."

She did, and then wiped her face with the washcloth he handed her. "Thank you," she said quietly, ducking her head.

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "It's all right, Diana. You don't have to be embarrassed." He picked her up and put her back in bed. "I used to get sick all the time as a kid, remember? Except this time you have us to take care of you, okay?" He tucked her in and gave her a tender smile. "Feel better?"

"Yeah."

He handed her some plain soda crackers. "Have a few, they'll settle your stomach."

She ate, had some water, and went back to sleep with her head in Steve's lap as he watched a football game.

She woke up a few hours later, feverish and shaking. She'd had a terrible nightmare that all her soulmates had been taken from her, and she was desperate to see them. "Steve!" she cried, seeing the room empty.

"Diana?" Bruce walked in from the hallway and crossed to the bed, kneeling beside her. "Diana, what's wrong?"

"Nightmare," she sobbed, throwing her arms around him. "You were all gone. I was alone."

"I'm sorry," he said soothingly. "Steve, Tony, and Clint were sent on a mission. We didn't want to wake you." He touched her forehead. "Goodness, you're burning up."

"I feel awful," she admitted.

He kissed her forehead. "It's okay," he said soothingly. "Would you like to take a bath and cool down?"

"Yeah." She tried to get out of bed, but her muscles felt like spaghetti and she flopped back down on the bed. "Never mind. I'm good."

He smiled. "Maybe later?"

"Yeah. Later."

"Okay." He handed her a glass of juice. "Can you drink this?"

She sipped at it and found that it helped. "You're not going to leave are you?" she asked, catching Bruce's hand.

He squeezed her hand tightly. "No, I'm not going to leave. Someone's going to be right here with you the whole time, okay?"

She smiled briefly. "I hate being sick. It makes me so needy, I'm sorry."

He hugged her. "It's completely okay," he assured her. "There's nowhere I'd rather be than at my soulmate's side."

"So cheesy," she teased, and started coughing. "Ugh."

He rubbed her back lightly. "How about that bath now?"

"Sure."

Natasha took over from that point, and helped her get into the tub and sit in the cool water in her underwear. If nothing else, at least she didn't feel all sweaty and grimy.

Diana dozed off, and the next thing she knew she was wrapped up in pajamas and a blanket, in bed. Natasha was doing paperwork by her side. "Nat?" she asked, her throat dry and sore.

"Hey, there," Natasha said. "You passed right out in the tub."

"What time's'it?" Diana asked, shifting fretfully.

"Seven PM."

"Steve back?" she asked eagerly.

"No. They'll be back tomorrow." Natasha petted her hair. "Go back to sleep."

"I can't. I'm not tired. J, put on a movie."

"Of course."

My Name is Nobody started playing. Natasha hid a smile as Diana fell back asleep thirty minutes into the movie. "Nice work, JARVIS," Natasha said.

"Thank you," JARVIS said smugly.

Another miserable week passed as Diana got over her flu. She finally rejoined the world of the living, weak and tired, and with a lingering cough.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Chapter 10. Plot! Beginning of intro to Age of Ultron ish. Lots of angst in this chapter.**

 **A/N: Updated the end of this chapter.**

With the Avengers busy fighting HYDRA, it was Diana and Bucky puttering around the Tower. Sometimes Bruce stayed behind, or Thor, when there was no need for high powered muscle. Between missions, Natasha and Clint taught Diana the basics of self-defense, and when they left, she and Bucky would do some light sparring. She became his tour guide around the city of New York, helping him familiarize himself with the city, and when he was tortured by nightmares, she would stay up with him and watch old movies.

"I need to get a job," she sighed, after the third week of lazing around. "I feel like a sponge."

Bucky laughed and kissed her on the head. "Diana, we're _all_ sponges off Tony Stark."

"Yes but at least you've got an excuse. You're going to become an Avenger one of these days."

He laughed. "Maybe. Anyways, that's not the point. The point is, you're the most important person in this Tower. You're the glue, literally. You keep people sane, and keep everybody from killing each other. And more importantly, you're their reason to come home safe."

"Yeah, but in between being glue, I'm still lazing my life away. I haven't gotten out of pajamas in three days." She sighed. "I need a job."

Bucky just laughed. "All right then, you can look for a job online. I'm going to go for a run."

"Run, Forrest, run," she said mockingly. "While you're at it, run to the grocery store and bring back some more cheese will you? Thor had grilled cheese sandwiches last night and finished off the entire freaking block."

"So that's why it smelled like smoke," he said, nodding. "A little bit of lightning, and Ka-Bam!"

"It's actually really cool how he does that," Diana said. "He makes the _best_ grilled chicken ever."

He finally left for his run, and Diana took her coffee to the living room. "JARVIS, pull up some job listings, will you?"

"For what position?"

"Surprise me," she said cheekily.

"How about a position with the Avengers?" a new voice asked.

She whirled to face the intruder. There were two of them, two men, whose bearings screamed 'government agent.' "JARVIS," she said cautiously, wondering why he hadn't issued an alert.

"My apologies Miss Lawrence, my protocols were overriden. Welcome back to the land of hte living, Agent Coulson."

"It's Director now, actually, but thank you JARVIS."

Diana stared at the man who'd spoken. "Agent Coulson?" she asked. "Agent Phil Coulson? I thought you were dead. In fact, I'm pretty sure you were dead, because I distinctly remember talking Clint out of a drunken stupor of grief on the anniversary of your _death_."

The man had the grace to look ashamed. "It was a complicated time," he said.

"It's been three years," she retorted. "You still haven't told them?"

"Not yet."

"Then what do you want with me?" she asked, still hostile.

The other man, the one wearing the dark sunglasses, spoke up. "You're their strongest ally aren't you? Their soulmate, Cap's girlfriend. You've even tamed the Winter Soldier, brought him over to the good side."

"Who are you?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nick Fury. You may have heard of me."

"Your secrets have secrets," she said, nodding. "Aren't you supposed to be dead too?"

"There's been some debate on that issue."

She was not impressed. "What do you want with me? Or did you just come early to talk to the Avengers? Tea, anyone?"

"Ms Lawrence," Coulson said, trying to withhold a sigh.

"Sorry," she said. "I hang out with the sarcastic ones too much."

"They're all sarcastic."

"See what I mean?"

"We want you to write pro-superhero articles and press releases for the Avengers," Coulson said bluntly. "The world needs to recognize that having a team of superheroes is a good thing."

She stared at him. "Well why didn't you say that in the first place? I accept."

They both blinked at her. "I wasn't actually expecting you to say yes so quickly," Coulson said, after a second. "I made this whole speech and everything."

"You can still give it if you want," Diana offered. "I'm not doing anything today. I'll time you."

"Well, I'm leaving," Fury said, heading out. "Give my regards to the team."

"Yep."

Coulson and Diana were left looking at each other awkwardly. "So," Diana said, offering him a seat on the couch. "What's it like, being a ghost?"

"Not bad," he said, shrugging.

She frowned at him. "Are you staying till they get back? You'd better be."

"You think they'll want to see me?"

"Absolutely. What if you need their help later, or vice versa? Also, it would make Clint and Natasha really, really happy."

"Hsas he told you about his family?" Coulson asked, changing the subject.

"Yeah." She smiled fondly. "I spent a week with them a while ago."

"Laura's a sweetheart, isn't she?"

"Yeah." She shook her head. "Don't change the subject. Are you going to stay?"

He sighed heavily. "Yes. Fine."

"Good." She eyed him carefully. He looked tired. "Would you like some lunch?" she offered.

"Sure."

They had a lunch of sandwiches, chips and dip, and watched an episode of Supernanny while she told him the story of how they'd all met.

"Mr. Barnes is on his way up," JARVIS announced, ten minutes after her story had ended.

The elevator opened and Bucky walked in, carrying about ten grocery bags in his metal hand. He tensed at seeing the stranger in the living room. "Diana, who's this?"

She gestured. "Bucky, this is Phil Coulson. Phil, James Barnes."

Bucky's eyes narrowed. "The fanboy?" he asked pointedly.

"That's the one," Diana said, smirking.

Coulson tugged at his collar, trying not to turn red. "Nice to meet you."

"You too." Bucky raised an eyebrow at Diana. "When are the others coming back?"

"They ought to be back soon," Diana said.

The elevator dinged and Tony stepped out. "Ooh, good timing, doll," Bucky said appreciatively. "Spot on."

"The others are coming in a second. I really hope there's food," Tony said, dropping his Iron Man suitcase with a clang and coming over to kiss Diana on the head. "We're starved. There's-" He stopped and stared at Coulson. His grip around Diana's waist tightened. "Who are you?" he demanded coldly.

"Hello, Mr. Stark."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "No, no, I asked who you are. You're supposed to say your name."

"I thought I'd made more of an impression than that," Coulson said. "Director Phil Coulson."

"His first name was Agent," Tony said, angrily. "Who are you really?"

"Tony, it's really him," Diana said, touching his arm lightly. "JARVIS recognized him and everything."

"No. He's dead."

The elevator dinged for a second time and the rest of the Avengers stepped out. "Well that was a bust," Clint said, getting out first.

"I need a drink," Natasha agreed, as they all piled out.

They caught sight of Coulson all at the same time, and froze where they were. Thor was the first to react. "What trickery is this?" he asked, bringing up Mjolnir to point at Coulson threateningly.

"Hi?" Coulson said, giving them a half wave.

"No," Clint said flatly, and walked out.

Natasha didn't even say anything. She just turned on her heel and walked in the direction Clint was going.

"I thought you were dead," Bruce said, after a second, being the least emotionally charged.

"I was," Coulson said, nodding. "For eight whole minutes. SHIELD brought me back. I'm the Director of New SHIELD, now."

"And you're just now telling us?" Tony asked, still hostile. "It's been _three years_ , Agent."

"I've been busy. So have you all."

That was when Thor left, swinging Mjolnir angrily.

"Why are you here?" Tony asked after a moment. "Let me guess. You need something from us."

Coulson handed him a flash drive. "I was going to leave this with Hill, but I decided to come and see your soulmate. She's perfect for you guys, by the way."

Tony bristled at being handed things by dead people, and tightened his grip on Diana. "What is it?" he asked, taking the conversation off her.

"The location of the sceptre."

"Where is it?" Bruce asked.

"Sokovia."

"You knew, and you've been letting us blunder off after it?" Steve finally spoke up.

"Well so far you've destroyed seven HYDRA bases and two anti-American terrorists, so, yeah."

"And now you want us to do your dirty work for you," Tony said. He frowned. "If you hadn't decided to come see our soulmate, would you have ever told us you were alive?"

Coulson simply looked at him.

"And of course our personal cuckoo in the nest would never have said a word," Tony continued coldly. "Has Hill been working for you this whole time, or for me?"

"For you, obviously," Coulson said. "She gets better dental working for SI."

Tony glared at him. "I'll let Pepper know you're not really dead. She cried for you, you know." He let go of Diana and walked out, making a beeline for the bar in the penthouse.

Bruce followed him. "I'll get right on that info." _And keep an eye on Tony_ , went unspoken.

Diana glanced from Steve to Coulson. Steve's eyes were locked on Coulson. Then slowly, he reached into his uniform jacket and pulled something out from the inside pocket. "I signed them." He handed Coulson a small stack of blood-stained trading cards, and walked out.

Diana wanted to go after him, but the look on Coulson's face made her waver. "Don't go anywhere," she ordered, pointing at him. She looked at Bucky. "Sit on him, will you?" And she headed after her soulmates.

She went to Steve first. "Hey," she said.

He gave her a tight look but didn't say anything.

She helped him take off the uniform jacket and kissed him. "You going to be okay?" she asked quietly.

He tipped his head forward to rest on hers. "I don't know," he admitted, closing his eyes. "I'm glad he's not dead. But I'm still angry."

She kissed his nose. "Okay."

He sighed. "I'm going to go shower." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and went into the locker room.

She found Thor on the roof, staring into the distance, Mjolnir hanging limply from his hand. "Thor?"

He turned to look at her, and gave her a wry smile. "Diana." He placed the hammer on the ground and reached out to give her a hug. "Are you well?"

"I should be asking you that question," she replied, her voice muffled.

He let her go slightly and ran a hand through his messy blond hair. "I am glad to see the Son of Coul alive. He was, is, a good man. But the last time someone came back from the dead..." he trailed off. "Loki was the one that killed him, you know."

It was her turn to hug him. "I know."

"But that is beside the point. He lives." He gave her another brief smile. "If I were not angry about his silence, I would insist on celebrating."

"Maybe you could talk to him?" Diana suggested. "He looked pretty devastated when everyone walked out on him."

Thor winced. "I will go down in a moment," he promised, returning his gaze to the skyline.

She nodded. "All right. I'm going to check on the others." She patted his arm lightly and tripped over Mjolnir. It tipped over slightly, shifting to move with her foot. She didn't even notice as she got in the elevator.

She went down one floor to the penthouse. She found Bruce studying the information on the sceptre with one eye and watching Tony knock back slugs of whiskey with the other eye. "You okay?" she asked, giving him a hug.

He shrugged. "I'm tired."

"Did the Other Guy come out to help?" she asked, rubbing his shoulders lightly, trying to relieve the tension she felt there.

"Yeah."

"Did that lullaby thing work?"

"More or less. At least I didn't crush Natasha in the process."

She nodded. "That's always good. And what about the other guy downstairs?"

Bruce shrugged. "I don't know. Only met him for ten minutes. But I feel bad for the others. Tony's on his sixth shot of whiskey."

She winced. "Oooookay. Better go over there." She ruffled his curly hair. "Get some rest before you go all science-y on the data, okay?"

"Yeah." He squeezed her hand. "I'm going to go take a nap."

She gave him a brief smile and approached the bar, where Tony was pouring his seventh shot. "I think I'm gonna stop you there," she said, taking the bottle away.

He grabbed another bottle. "Have a drink with me, doll. To dead people coming back from the dead. Long may they reign." He slammed back another shot.

She took away the other bottle and the shot glass and put them out of reach. "Tony, stop it."

"Nuh-uh. I'm not passed out yet."

"I'll call Pepper," she threatened.

He glared at her. "That's a low blow, doll face."

She held up a hand. "JARVIS?"

"Dialing Ms Potts."

"Override!" Tony said, and slumped down to sit on the barstool, scrubbing at his face. "He should've stayed dead. I was over it already," he mumbled, draining the last drops from the first bottle. "Stupid Agent. He should've waited in the first place."

She sat beside him and wrapped her arm around his waist, moving the other bottle out of reach and taking one of his hands. "Aren't you glad he's alive?"

He examined her fingers, finding it easier to look down than look at her. "Of course I am," he muttered reluctantly. "But he _lied_ to us. He let us think he was dead." He muttered a few imprecations under his breath.

Diana leaned her head on his shoulder. "Will you forgive him?"

"Ask me tomorrow." He sighed and stood up, gently detaching himself from her hug. "I'm going to call Pepper." He kissed her on the forehead. "Go talk to the super spies. They need you more than I do."

"All right." She let him leave, and surreptiously took a sip from the other whiskey. Ugh. That was strong. It burned a trail right down to her stomach. "Yuck. It's a miracle he's not dead yet. JARVIS, keep an eye on him, okay?"

"Of course."

"Cool. Where's Clint and Tasha?"

"Ms Romanoff is in her apartment."

"Thank you." She went down a few levels, and stopped outside Natasha's door. There were no sounds issuing from inside, but she could feel the tension, anger, and grief radiating from her soulmate. The emotions made her chest hurt. She knocked lightly. "Tasha?"

There was no answer. She opened the door cautiously, hoping she wouldn't get a knife in the eye for her troubles, but there were no flying projectiles, and she stepped into the room. Seeing Natasha curled up in the corner of her bed, unmoving, made her heart break. "Natasha?" she asked softly.

"Diana," she replied, her voice broken.

Diana went immediately to her side and wrapped her in a hug.

Natasha clung to her tightly, and buried her head in Diana's shoulder. "I hate him," she choked out. "I hate him. He made me _care_ , Diana. Besides Clint, he was the only person I ever trusted. And then he d-" She choked on the word. "He made me care, and then he was gone, and he didn't _tell us_. That-" She broke off into a string of Russian curses that Diana was very glad she didn't understand.

"Shh," Diana said, rubbing her back lightly. "It'll be okay."

"I hate him," Natasha repeated.

"I know," her soulmate replied, knowing full well that it was the opposite. "I know you don't actually hate him."

"Yes I do."

"You can't lie to me," Diana reminded her gently. "You don't hate him."

"I wish I could. It'd be easier."

Diana laughed slightly. "Much easier," she agreed. "That way you wouldn't have to talk to him." She smoothed Tasha's hair lightly. It was still tangled from the mission earlier today. "Come on _sestra_. Sister. I know it's hard to care. You're not used to it. But you care about me, about Clint, about the other Avengers. And you care about Phil."

"I'm still angry," Natasha said warningly.

"Yeah, but you don't hate him."

A sigh. "No, I don't."

Diana kissed her on the cheek. "Go talk to him."

"What about Clint?" Natasha asked reluctantly.

"I'll take care of him." She shooed her off towards the door. "Go on. Go yell at him. Bucky's going to be there to make sure you don't break him." She smiled briefly. "And after we're done with Coulson, we're going to have a teeny chat about you and Bucky. Don't think I haven't noticed."

Natasha flinched, froze, and glanced back at Diana, who was smiling. She retraced her steps and hugged Diana tightly. "Thank you, _sestrenka_ ," she murmured.

"Anything for my sister," Diana promised.

Natasha left, and Diana looked up at the ceiling. "JARVIS, where's Clint?"

"In the vents," JARVIS said tiredly. "I can't track him, although I know he's somewhere on this floor."

Diana sighed. "All right. Cool. Don't ever say I don't love my soulmates." She climbed up on Natasha's desk and hopped into the air vent. "If I was Clint, where would I be?" she asked herself. "Besides the farm," she added. She focused on the bonds with her soulmates. Everyone's strong emotions were starting to ease up, except- she started forward. It was like someone had painted neon signs leading towards Clint.

She crawled until she was over one of the living rooms, and turned the corner. She found a junction, and in that junction, Clint. He was sitting, knees drawn up, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders stiff. She slid out of the vent and landed on her knees next to him. "Do you always hide in the vents?" she asked, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"Do you always talk to yourself?" he retorted, not moving. "I could hear you six turns away."

She smiled briefly. "I thought we talked about turning up the gain on your hearing aids."

He choked out a laugh. "Don't need to. You're no stealth ops."

She punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Did you get hurt on the mission?" she asked, triyng to figure out how to broach the subject.

"I'm fine. Just sore."

She smoothed his hair. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No." He was still angry.

She sat down cross-legged next to him, their arms touching. "You know, my bathroom could always use a remodel if you wanna keep repressing your emotions," she said after a moment.

He let out another laugh. "Laura told you."

"Yeah. She wanted to make sure I knew that you care for the people around you, even when you don't show it. Mostly, she wanted to make sure I was careful not to get hurt again, but in this instance it's pretty useful too."

"He was my Superior Officer," Clint said, leaning his head back against the side of the vent. "He recruited me, brought me in, taught me the ropes, gave me my first actual pair of hearing aids. He taught me to speak. He let me date Laura and he let me keep Natasha when I found her. He was the best man at my wedding. He's Cooper's godfather. When he died... gah. I couldn't even look at a SHIELD emblem. I almost quit. I was this close. But I didn't. I kept working, in memory of him. And now the jerk's sitting in our living room, acting like everything's okay."

"Would it be better if you didn't know?" Diana asked softly.

"No." He sighed. "No, it wouldn't, because then he'd still be dead and I'd still be getting drunk every year. But I'm still angry. No matter how many puppy-eyes you give me, I'm still going to be angry."

"I know." She put an arm around his shoulders. "Just, don't take two weeks to deal with it this time, okay? I don't know how long Bucky can hold him in the living room."

Clint smirked. "You say that like you're so sure I'm going to go down there and talk to him."

"I _am_ so sure." She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Just talk to him, Clint. He's here, now. You can't let him leave without saying something."

"Yes I can. Let him suffer."

"The last time he saw you, you were being controlled by Loki," she reminded him quietly, making him wince. "Don't make the last time he sees you again, the sight of you rejecting him."

"He's not my soulmate."

"No, he's the closest thing to a father figure you've had in your life."

He winced. "Your aim's still dead-on."

"The truth hurts," she replied placidly.

Clint heaved a sigh and scrubbed a hand over his face. " _Fine_. You've convinced me. That doesn't mean I'm not going to be mad."

"Fine with me," Diana said. "Whatever makes you stop hurting."

He glanced at her sideways. "You can feel it can't you?"

"Yep." She pressed a hand to her chest. "Right here."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't apologize for having feelings," she told him. "Goodness knows you've had to put up with my mood swings."

"Every three weeks like clockwork," he agreed.

She shoved him lightly, blushing. "Shut up, birdbrain."

"You started it."

"Yeah." She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Go talk to him."

He took her hand. "Come with me? I might need someone to hold me back from punching him in the face."

"Sure." She slid out of the vent, and he followed her.

When they got down to the living room, they found Natasha and Coulson sitting next to each other. Both of them looked suspiciously teary-eyed. Bucky was hovering anxiously near the breakfast bar.

"She yell at him?" Diana asked quietly.

Bucky grinned briefly. "In twelve different languages."

Natasha looked up and saw Clint and Diana. She got up with a murmured word to Coulson and went over, grabbing Bucky's arm and dragging him out of the room. "Your turn," she told Clint. "Don't hit him."

Clint turned to look at Coulson, and then looked at Diana anxiously. She pushed him in the direction of his former handler. "I'll be over here, reading."

Clint went to stand in front of Coulson. "I rebuilt my two bathrooms because of you."

"They needed the plumbing redone."

They shared a brief hug, and Diana quietly slipped out. Father-son time was something sacred. "J, where're Nat and Bucky?"

JARVIS pulled up a video feed. Bucky was steadily blocking hits from Natasha as the two of them sparred.

She nodded, and bumped into Thor in the library. "You talk to him?" she asked.

He nodded. "We spoke briefly before Natasha came down."

"Feel better?"

"Yes. I understand his reasons for keeping it a secret, although I do not agree with him."

"Good." She squeezed his arm. "Have you seen Steve?"

"I believe he is in one of the labs with Bruce."

"Thanks."

Thor followed her, and they found the two men reading information on the sceptre. Thor immediately joined the discussion.

Steve reached for Diana and pulled her into his arms, her back to his chest. He rested his chin on her head as the three Avengers discussed locations and tactics, and when the other two were discussing sceptre stuff, he leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "I love you."

She turned her head slightly to kiss him. "I love you too."

"Ahem."

They turned to see Bruce and Thor smirking at them. "Extremely dangerous sceptre over here?" Bruce prompted.

"Sorry." Diana gave them a smile and wriggled out of Steve's arms. "Obviously I'm much too distracting. I'll get out of your hair." She winked at Steve and left. Time to check on Tony.

He was deep in conversation with Pepper, so she left him in the care of his romantic soulmate and went back to the library. "Well, except for hugs," she said to herself in the empty library, "I'm useless again." She flopped into one of the couches, and remembered what Fury and Coulson had told her about her new "job". "JARVIS, pull up a search engine."

"What do you wish to search?"

"The opinion of people on the Avengers."

JARVIS, if he'd been human, would've winced. "I do not think that's a good idea," he said diplomatically.

"I don't care. Show it to me."

"I do not wish to upset you."

"JARVIS. I'm a big girl."

He gave an AI-sigh, and pulled up the search results on the nearest holographic display.

Diana excelled at skimming and speed reading. What she read made her want to throw up, or punch something. Half the opinions were that the Avengers were godsends, and the other half were of the opinion that the Avengers should be destroyed. They were called disruptive, destructive, promoters of violence, and since they didn't answer to any government, vigilantes. They seemed to think that the Avengers were either heroes or villains, and no in-between. No one seemed to realize they were _people_.

"JARVIS, is there a keyboard in here?" she asked.

"There is a wireless keyboard in a drawer to your left," he said.

She pulled the keyboard out. "Give me a word doc?"

A blank page appeared on the screen, and she started to write. "Four years in college, I better be able to do at least this," she muttered, typing furiously. "J, don't let anyone know what I'm doing."

"As you wish."

"And tell me when someone's approaching the library," she added.

"Yes, Miss Lawrence."

When she finally surfaced from her article-induced haze, it was starting to get dark. She saved the article, sent it to her editor ex-co-worker from Time magazine in a request for critique, and stood up to stretch. "Where's everyone?" she asked, getting into the elevator.

"Everyone is in the kitchen, as Mr. Barton is making waffles," JARVIS replied.

"Is Coulson gone?"

"Yes."

"Did everyone talk to him?"

"Yes."

"Good." She got out of the elevator and went into the kitchen. "Waffles and nobody told me?" she asked lightly, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist.

He smiled down at her. "We were going to bring you up a tray. Didn't want to disturb your reading."

"Pshaw. Waffles always beat reading. Have I taught you nothing?"

He smirked. "My mistake. How could I forget."

"Did you get everything you needed for the sceptre?" Diana asked.

They all shared a glance. "We're moving out day after tomorrow," Steve said. "Just as soon as Tony's Iron Legion can be repaired."

Diana nodded. "All right."

"And Bucky's staying behind with you," Steve added.

"I don't need a bodyguard," she protested.

"No, but I do," Bucky said, ruffling her hair. "Otherwise who'll stop me from eating all the Cheetos?"

Tony's eyes widened. "You didn't."

Bucky smirked at him.

"If you touch my Cheetos again, I will hurt you," Tony threatened.

Diana laughed, and then sobered. "Don't change the subject, guys. I don't need a bodyguard."

"Diana-"

"No. I'm in the safest place in the world right now. And from what Coulson said and you've been planning, this base is going to need all the heavy hitters you can get."

"She's right," Natasha said.

"You don't have to," Steve started, looking at Bucky worriedly.

The former Winter Soldier shook his head. "Diana's right. I've been puttering around the tower, but this time, I think you could use my help.'

"Or at least you could give us a hand," Tony said.

They all glared at him.

"Too soon?" he asked.

Diana punched him lightly. "No more puns. They are officially banned. That was the worst thing I've ever heard."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Anyways. We move out in two days."

Diana's editor friend emailed back with the results a couple hours later. "It's beautiful!" was her reply. "Revise it, publish it. You go girl!" And she gave her several numbers of newspaper editors.

So she published it. It ran in several newspapers and magazines under a pseudonym, and was picked up and carried into mainstream media.

A day after it came out, she got an email from an anonymous source that said, "Thank you, Miss Lawrence, for helping your soulmates so quickly. DC. :)" Which stood for Director Coulson, obviously. And a smiley face! It was so cute.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: All right, beginning of Age of Ultron. Major spoilers.**

Two days later, the Avengers were moving out to retrieve Loki's sceptre. "Stay safe," Diana said anxiously, as they were loading onto the quin jet.

"We'll see you soon," Steve said.

She waved as they lifted off, and went down to the common floor. "JARVIS, can I listen in on the comms?" she asked.

"They are currently not on comms, miss," JARVIS replied.

"But when they are?"

"That is classified," he hedged.

"JARVIS, please?" she asked. "I'm worried about them."

He relented. "When they reach the base, you will have access to the comms. Listen only, of course, unless you wish to join Cmdr. Hill in the command center."

"Thank you, J." She shot the camera a sweet smile and went down to the library. There were things that she had to do today. Now that she was published she wanted to keep an eye on the response to her articles. And possibly write another one.

Her soulmates had been gone for eight hours when her skin began to burn in a very familiar way. "What the-" She ran to the nearest bathroom, yanked her shirt off, dropped her pants, and _stared_.

 _I can honestly say I did not_ , slanted its way up her calf, followed by _And you are the soulmate, the only good thing in their minds among the bad_ on her ribs. And only a few moments later, _what do you think of me?_ inscribed itself onto her lower back.

"JARVIS, am I hallucinating, or is this real?" she asked shakily.

"These do appear to be three new soul marks," JARVIS said, after a quick scan. "Shall I alert the Avengers?"

"No," Diana said with a sigh. "They don't need to be distracted." She traced the words on her ribs in fascination. "Whoever this is, really needs a hug."

"I'm sure with you as their soulmate, they will be hugged plenty," JARVIS said dryly.

She laughed. "Yup." She pulled her clothes on slowly, and adjusted her shirt. "That makes ten marks," she mused. "Ten soulmates. Hey JARVIS, what do you want to bet these new ones are super heroes, too?"

"I would not bet against you," JARVIS replied.

"Good to know." She twitched uneasily as a flash of emotion came from one of her soulmates. "What's going on, J?"

"The Avengers have lost the element of surprise," JARVIS reported. "Connecting you to the comms now."

Tony's voice came through the earpiece. "Wait a second. No one else is going to deal with the fact that Cap just said "language?""

Diana snickered as Steve replied, stressed, "I know." There was a crash, and he continued "It just slipped out."

There were more fighting sounds, and Diana paced an anxious circle in the living room. There was a muffled noise, and then she felt a pain lance through her side. At that same moment, Natasha yelled, "Clint!"

Diana curled up on the couch, almost missing Steve's grunt as he yelled, "We have an enhanced in the field."

"Clint's hit!" Natasha repeated. "Somebody want to deal with that bunker?"

There was an answering roar from the Hulk, and a "On it," from Bucky.

"Thank you."

Diana listened and paced anxiously as they broke through the base's defenses, evac-ed Clint back to the jet, and giggled when she heard Tony go "Please be a secret door, yay!" Then there was a disturbing pause, and her heart twisted uneasily when Tony fell silent.

"Tony?" she whispered, wishing she could communicate with them.

But everything was apparently okay, and she turned off the comm when JARVIS reported they were on the jet and heading home.

"All right," Diana said, finally stopping her pacing around the living room. She took a shower and got some food ready for when they returned.

As soon as the quin-jet touched down, she went to meet them. Maria Hill was also waiting for them with information.

"The two enhanced?" Steve asked, as everyone else was hustled away for medical treatment, Natasha still fussing over Clint. Diana hung back to wrap her arm around Steve's waist.

Hill held up a tablet with their pictures. "Wanda and Pietro Maximoff. Twins. Orphaned at ten when a shell collapsed their apartment building."

"Their abilities?" Diana asked.

"He's got increased metabolism and improved thermal homeostasis. Her thing is neural electric interfacing, telekinesis, mental manipulation. He's fast and she's weird," she summarized.

"Well, they're going to show up again," Steve determined.

"Agreed. File says they volunteered for Strucker's experiments. It's nuts."

Steve smirked and got in the elevator, pulling Diana with him. "Right. What kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them to protect their country?"

Hill rolled her eyes. "We're not at war, Captain."

"They are," Steve said, and the elevator doors closed. He looked down at Diana. "So how was your day?" he asked, kissing her lightly.

She wrapped her arms around his neck. "It was a little nerve wracking. Is Clint okay?"

"I think so. Tony's got a scientist working on some sort of regeneration technique."

"Speaking of which, is Tony okay?" she asked. "Earlier, he sounded..." She back tracked. "I mean, JARVIS told me-"

"You really can't lie can you?" Steve asked, amused, as her eyes dropped to stare at his chest. "Did you bribe JARVIS to link you up?"

"Maybe." She rested her head against him lightly. "I hate not knowing what's happening when you guys are out there. Anything could happen."

Steve pressed a kiss to her hair and they stood there in silent comfort for a minute. Then, "I should really shower."

"Yeah," she agreed, stepping back slightly. "And I need to check on Tony and Clint, and the others." She caught at his hand. "How's Bucky?"

Steve sighed. "He fought well, and he even cracked a joke on the jet coming back, but I don't know. Can you..."

"I'll check on him," Diana promised. She pressed another kiss to his lips. "I love you."

"I love you too." He caught her fingers as she walked away. "Diana."

She turned to look at him curiously.

"I wish-" the words got stuck in his throat. "After this is all cleaned up, I need to ask you something."

She gave him a brief smile. "What?"

"That'd be telling," he said, shaking his head.

She made a face at him. "Spoil sport." And she sauntered off.

He leaned back on the elevator door, frustrated with his inability to speak. "It's a simple question, Rogers," he told himself, annoyed. "Four words."

JARVIS spoke up. "If I may, Captain Rogers, you will have time enough to plan it afterwards."

"You don't even know what I'm talking about," Steve said petulantly.

JARVIS pulled up a google search of diamond rings in silent reply.

Steve groaned. "Don't tell anyone."

"Of course not, captain."

"Thank you, JARVIS."

Diana found Bucky just coming out of the shower, sweatpants swung low on his hips, his two soul marks dark against his skin. "No injuries?" she asked, handing him a T-shirt.

He pulled it on. "Nope."

"You all right?" she continued, un-sticking a piece of the T-shirt from a joint in his arm.

Bucky sighed. "I'm fine, doll."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you sure?"

He sighed again and sat next to her on the bed. "I don't know. The fighting was no problem, but... I could feel it, Diana. My training, my brainwashing, I could feel it coming back. It scared the pants off me."

"What kept it at bay?" Diana asked gently.

"You and Stevie," Bucky said after a long moment. "I think, you saved me from going back to that place."

She hugged him tightly. "We wouldn't let you go back to being that person, Bucky, I promise."

"Yeah, I know." He let himself relax. His stomach growled.

Diana snickered. "Hungry?"

"I could eat," he agreed.

"Good. There's food in the common area, unless Thor got to it first." She stood up and ruffled his hair. "I'm glad you're back safe." She escaped his room before he could finish glaring at her for ruffling his hair.

Her next stop was Clint, who was still being knitted back together by the regeneration cradle. "How are you doing?" she asked, sitting by his side and taking his hand.

He squeezed it gratefully. "I'll be fine. Apparently my own girlfriend won't be able to tell the difference."

Diana smirked. "You don't have a girlfriend."

"That's not something I can fix," Dr. Cho sang out, from around the corner.

Diana snickered and leaned down to kiss his forehead. "You want me to call Laura?" she murmured near his ear.

"No, I'll do it later," he replied.

She nodded, and stayed with him for another few minutes before moving on.

She found Tony and Bruce buried in some sort of computer program. "What is this?" she asked, frowning at the shifting blue crystalline structure. "Are you making another JARVIS?"

Bruce gave her a look. "Ultron."

Diana sighed. "Ultron? Again, Tony?"

"We need it," Tony said distractedly, still analyzing code.

Diana ignored him for the moment and hugged Bruce. "You ok?" she asked.

"I'm good," he replied. "Lullaby worked like a charm."

"Good." She lowered her voice and glanced at Tony. "Where'd this program come from?"

"The sceptre."

She turned to look at the glowing sceptre and shivered uneasily. "And what does this have to do with Ultron?" she asked, nudging Tony with her shoulder.

"I want to apply this to the Ultron program," he explained. "But Jarvis can't download a data schematic this dense. We can only do it while we have the scepter here, that's three days, give me three days."

"So you're going for artificial intelligence and you don't want to tell the rest of the team," Bruce said, raising an eyebrow.

"Right. That's right, you know why, because we don't have time for a city hall debate. I don't want to hear the "man was not meant to meddle" medley," Tony said, quirking his fingers in quote marks. He put in some new calculations. "I see a suit of armor around the world."

Diana shuddered again. "That sounds like a cold world, Tony."

"I've seen colder," he replied. "This one, this very vulnerable blue one? It needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that, Diana."

"I am imagining it. You ever seen _I, Robot_?"

He shook his head. "Not like that. It'd be better."

She grabbed his shoulders and made him look at her. "What caused this, Tony? What did you see over there?"

He stiffened. "How do you know I saw anything?"

"I could feel it," she replied evenly. "That twin, the girl, she did something to your head didn't she?"

"She didn't show me anything I hadn't already thought of," Tony replied, shrugging out of her grasp.

"What was it?" Bruce asked.

"That we need Ultron."

Diana rolled her eyes. "No, what you need is a nap." She took the tablet out of his hands. "Come on. I thought there was a party tonight."

"Oh yeah."

She watched them go, anxious. "JARVIS, you'll stop him if it turns into an obsession, right?" she asked. "Or you'll tell me?"

"Yes Miss Lawrence."

"Good." She patted the console. "Gotta go get ready."

The official 'sceptre's been captured end of HYDRA yay' party was great. Diana wore a pair of fitted black jeans, a green and blue patterned top, and straightened her hair. She even had enough time to braid back some of Thor's hair. "So it won't fall into your eyes," she explained.

He smirked at her. "I know what your reasons are, Diana."

She grinned back at him. "Great. So can I take a picture now?"

He obligingly posed for her. "Make sure to send it to Jane."

"I will." She sent it in a text to both Jane and Darcy. "When are you returning to Asgard with the sceptre?"

"In three days," Thor replied. "I was hoping to say goodbye to Jane before I depart."

She nodded. "Of course."

"Shall we?" Thor asked, holding out his arm.

They joined the party, and she traded Thor's arm for Steve's to dance for a bit before the majority of people arrived.

She wandered the party for a while, chatting with people here and there, and finally ended up sitting on the sofa with Clint, who was still tired from the regen cradle. Eventually the party dwindled, and it was only Avengers who were left sitting around the sofa set, sipping their drinks. Talk eventually circled back to Mjolnir, sitting unobtrusively on the table.

"It's a trick, man," Clint said, spinning the drumsticks he'd found under the seat.

Thor gestured expansively. "Please, be my guest."

"What really?"

"Do it, do it," everyone chorused.

Clint got up, Tony jeered at him. "You know I've seen this before, right?"

Thor smirked and waved it off.

He pulled, and Mjolnir stayed put. "How do you do it?"

"Can you smell the silent judgment?" Tony asked snidely.

"By all means, Stark."

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge," he said arrogantly. "It's physics. If I lift it, do I get to rule Asgard?"

Thor smirked. "Yes, of course."

Tony pulled. Nothing. "I'll be right back." He came back wearing a repulsor gauntlet. Nothing. Rhodey joined him. Still nothing.

"Are you even pulling?"

"Are you on my team?"

"Just represent, pull!"

Nothing.

Banner tried it next, and fake roared. "No?" he asked, like the dork he was.

Steve got up next.

"Go, cap."

He got up, rolling his shirtsleeves up, and pulled. Mjolnir creaked slightly and wiggled, but it didn't move.

"Nothing," Thor said, smirking.

Steve sat down and put an arm around Diana, smiling.

Bruce looked at Natasha questioningly.

She smirked. "That's not a question I need answered."

Bucky tried next. Nothing.

They all looked at Diana. She stared back at them. "What?"

"Do it," Tony said.

"Who me?"

"Go for it."

Diana rolled her eyes but stood up. "Come on, guys. I'm not even a superhero." She wrapped her fingers around the handle and tugged lightly. "I can't even lift a-" She stared at the hammer in her upraised hand. "Uh... what?"

Everyone was staring at her. "Whoa," Clint said after a minute. "How'd you do that?"

"I don't know," she replied, shaken. "I didn't even pull."

"Do it again," Bruce said.

She put the hammer down in a different spot, and picked it up again. She turned to face Thor, who was just grinning from ear to ear. "How?" she asked.

He smiled at her. "You are my soulmate, Diana. Of course you are worthy."

"Does that make her a princess?" Clint asked.

Diana put the hammer down and sat in between Thor and Steve, still shaken. "I was not expecting that."

"You knew all along," Tony said, pointing at Thor.

"Of course I did. I thought it was obvious." He grinned. "Except for my soulmate, none of you are worthy."

"How could you be?" a new voice asked, deep and grating. "You're all just, puppets."

Everyone stood up to confront the intruder, and Diana was pushed behind Thor and Steve's protective shoulders. She peered through their arms, trying to get a look at the one who'd spoken. It was one of Tony's Iron Legion bots, except for some reason it had a grudge against the Avengers.

"Ultron," Tony whispered, from the side.

Diana turned to stare at him. "You _made_ _Ultron_?" she whisper-shrieked. "I distinctly remember putting the kibosh on that idea!"

"I un-kiboshed it," Tony replied flippantly, and added, "Which, in hindsight, was a bad idea. He shouldn't even exist right now."

That was when Ultron attacked, and everyone dove for cover. Steve grabbed Diana around the waist and jumped over the back of the couch, shielding her with his body. "Stay down," he ordered, and jumped out.

Diana huddled behind the couch, and when it got blasted, she jumped behind the bar, joining Bruce, who was trembling with tension. "You okay?" she asked, taking his shaking hands in hers.

He nodded, though his eyes were starting to turn hazel-green.

"Stay with me, Bruce," she said quietly, squeezing his hands and smiling at him. "Everything will be fine."

And then it was over, the last of the robots falling prone as Ultron escaped through the internet.

"Everyone okay?" Steve asked.

A chorus of 'yep's' sounded out, and Bruce helped Diana to her feet. "We're okay," Diana said. She then turned to Tony. " _YOU_ are _NOT_ okay. What were you thinking?"

"He was not," Thor growled, grabbing Tony by the collar. "This is what happens when you meddle with things you don't understand! First the tesseract, now this Ultron."

"Thor, we can yell later, we have problems right now."

Thor dropped Tony with a huff.

"The point is," Steve said, "this Ultron is in the wind and he's got the sceptre, which we've got to retrieve, again."

"Right. JARVIS, pull up the feeds-" Tony stopped. "JARVIS? Buddy?"

There was no reply.

"He said he killed the other one," Diana said, horrified.

"Jarvis was the first line of defense. He would've shut Ultron down, it makes sense," Bruce said, wincing.

Tony shook his head. "No. Ultron could've assimilated Jarvis. This isn't strategy, this is...rage."

Diana tuned out their arguing and walked over to the window, trying to think. Tony had seen something nightmare-ish, which led to him creating JARVIS 2.0. _But_ JARVIS 2.0 aka Ultron was insane, which wasn't surprising because he'd come from Loki's sceptre. "So wait," she said aloud, "the jewel in the sceptre is _alive_?"

"Not alive, per se," Bruce said.

"But alive in the same way JARVIS is alive, right?"

"Right."

She looked at Thor. "What exactly does this jewel do?"

"It is a power source. Previously we thought it was Loki wielding the mind control behind the sceptre, but with this new evidence, perhaps it is more than a power source."

She nodded and looked at Tony. "So what's Ultron going to do?"

"How am I supposed to know?" he retorted.

"You created him!"

"Yeah, to protect the world, not destroy it!" He scrubbed his fingers over his face. "I don't know what's going on any more than you do."

"All right, so we track him," Steve said.

With that signal, they got to work.

Diana watched them for a while. "I'm going to go to bed," she announced.

"Stay with one of us," Steve ordered. "Ultron knows who you are and how valuable you are. If he gets to you..."

She squeezed his arm lightly. "I know, Steve. I'll be with Natasha, all right?"

"Good."

She dragged a beanbag chair into the computer room that Natasha was working in. "Just ignore me," she said, giving Natasha a smile.

"Did Steve tell you to stay close?"

"Yes."

"Good." Natasha ruffled her hair lightly. "Sleep, _sestrenka_."

"No worries," Diana said, yawning, "gotta sleep before the world ends. Need to be awake for that..." and she was out.

She woke up to the voice of Maria Hill giving a report. "He's all over the globe...robotics labs, weapons facilities, jet propulsion labs...reports of a metal man, or men, coming in and emptying the place."

"Fatalities?"

"Only when engaged."

"Mostly guys left in a fugue state going on about old memories, worst fears, and something too fast to see."

"Maximoffs."

"Well, that makes sense he'd go to them, they have someone in common."

"Not anymore. Strucker's dead."

Diana snuggled deeper into the beanbag chair. Then, "Barton, we've gotta go!" woke her up.

"Where are you going?" she asked, scrambling out of the beanbag chair and grabbing hold of Bucky's arm for balance.

He hauled her to her feet easily. "Awake there, doll?" he asked, smirking.

"Hush. Are you moving out?"

"We think he's gathering vibranium," Bucky said. "We're going to find a shipment of it right now, hopefully beat him to it."

"Be careful," she said, reaching up to kiss him on the cheek.

"Will do. Come give a kiss to Stevie, he's anxious."

She followed him up to the locker rooms and caught Steve around the waist. "Hey soldier," she said, leaning up on her tiptoes to kiss him.

He relaxed into her embrace. "Hey, doll. Did Bucky tell you where we're going?"

"Yeah. Stay safe."

"You too." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Don't listen in on comms, okay?"

"Request denied," she retorted.

"Diana."

"Steve," she replied. "I need to know what's going on. You can't block me out on this."

He sighed. "I can't say no to you, can I?"

"Nope." She gave him another light kiss. "Go get 'em."


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Second part of AoU.**

They made it to Wakanda at the same time as Ultron and his twin soldiers. And that's when everything went to pieces. Ultron got away with the vibranium and left the two Maximoff twins to wreak havoc.

"Thor?" came Steve's voice.

"The girl tried to warp my mind. Take special care, I doubt a human could keep her at bay. Fortunately, I am mighty..." he trailed off, his voice distant.

"This is going very well," Natasha said sarcastically, and then she went silent as well.

There was a crackle of static and then Clint said dryly, "I've done the whole mind control thing. Not a fan." A whoosh of air. "Yeah, you better run. Who's ever standing, we gotta move! Guys?"

Diana tensed. From what she could hear on comms, only Clint and Tony were up and about. "Guys?" she asked, switching her comm from receive to transmit, against Maria's explicit stink-eye.

"Diana, the little witch got to Banner," Tony said frantically. "Can you calm him down?"

"On it," Diana replied. "Bruce? Bruce can you hear me?"

There was no reply except for a growl and then a roar.

"He's out, I'm calling VERONICA," Tony said.

"Tony wait, don't touch him! Stand down!" Diana said. "Bruce! Bruce, listen to me! You need to calm down!"

"NOT BRUCE!" was the Hulk's irate reply. He tried to dig the earpiece out but it was too tiny and his fingers were too huge.

"All right, you're not Bruce, you're the Hulk. Do you know who I am, big guy?" Diana asked, pacing a tight circle. She paused in front of the news footage being shot real time in Africa. The Hulk looked frantic, confused.

"Soul," Hulk replied finally, his fingers wandering to the words marked on his skin.

"Exactly," she said, nodding. "I'm your soulmate, Hulk. Do you trust me?"

"ARGH," was his reply, as he tried to wipe whatever he was seeing from his eyes.

"I'm going to take that as a yes." She tried to make her voice soothing. "If you trust me, Hulk, then listen to me when I tell you that whatever you're seeing is not real. No one is going to hurt you right now. The only one there is you and Tony. Remember Tony? Metal Man?"

"Metal Man," he agreed.

"Right. And that's the only person there, Hulk. Just him. And he's not going to hurt you. You are friends, right Tony?"

"Friends," Tony agreed, not daring to move an inch in his Hulkbuster suit as he faced the Hulk. "You and me, Jolly Green, we're best friends."

"See?" Diana said soothingly, "it's all right. Whatever you're seeing, Tony and I will protect you from it."

The Hulk started to shrink. "Safe?"

"Safe," she agreed. "There's no need to get angry, or scared. Everything's okay. The bad people are gone. You can go back to sleep. It's all just a dream. No one's going to hurt you. It's okay." She kept talking, nonsense phrases and soothing words, until he'd completely transformed back into Bruce and fallen asleep in the middle of the small crater.

She watched on screen as the Hulkbuster suit picked up Banner like a small child and flew away, leaving the terrified citizens staring after them.

"Nice job, Diana," Tony said over the comm.

"Thanks." She took a deep breath. From the sound of it, they were in the quin-jet. "Now what happens. How's everyone?"

"Everyone's...we took a hit."

"We'll shake it off," Tony assured her.

Maria spoke up. "Well for now I'd stay in stealth mode. And stay away from here."

"So, run and hide?"

"Until we can find Ultron, I don't have a lot else to offer." Maria looked at Diana. "You should join them. You're still a target."

Clint spoke up. "Diana, you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Diana smiled briefly. "Yup."

"Good. Meet us there. You can help set up."

"All right."

"Set what up?" Tony asked.

"Safe house," Clint replied.

"Cool." Tony nodded. "Take one of my suits, doll, JARVIS will help-" he stumbled over the words, "I mean, just put it on autopilot after you give it the address. VERONICA will take care of you. You'll get there twice as fast. Uh, take the Mark 48."

"Copy that."

The comms clicked off. Diana slowly pulled the earpiece out. There was an ache in her chest, and it wasn't coming from her. They were all hurting, emotionally and physically, and it burned that she wasn't there with them. But she had a job to do, now. Set up the safe house, aka the farm.

"Gonna go, do that," she told Maria, hooking a thumb in the general direction of 'out there.' "See you later."

"I'll send an agent with you."

"Not necessary."

"Diana, if you get kidnapped on my watch, Cap's gonna kill me."

"If I reveal the location of this safe house to anyone, Clint's gonna kill _me_. And besides, I'm taking a suit. Perfectly safe. So I'll see you later." She went down to pack a bag with a change of clothes for each of the team, grabbed Natasha's secret stash of cash and weapons, and stuffed it all into a metal box. The Mark 48 was perfect as a pack mule, once you secured the latches.

She got in the suit, it closed around her, and she blasted off from the tower. Once she put in the direction, it calculated an evasive path, and she was flying over the USA at Mach 2.

She arrived at the safe house in the early morning, around five thirty. She landed on the front porch in stealth mode. She left the suit on the porch and went inside, using the spare key above the frame. "Laura? It's me."

"Upstairs," came a tired voice.

She went upstairs to find a very pregnant Laura sitting on the edge of the bed. "Hi," she said, giving Laura a hug. "Couldn't sleep?"

"Got up to pee, wasn't sleepy anymore," Laura replied. "What's up? Where's Clint?"

"He's on his way," Diana replied, "along with the rest of the team."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Yeah... we need to lay low for a while." She added hastily, "it was his idea. I came early to help set up." She helped Laura to her feet. "How's little Nathaniel?"

"Asleep, I think. Hasn't kicked in a few hours. Come on. I need a cup of tea first."

It was late afternoon when the quin-jet landed near the barn.

"Here they come," Diana said, looking out the window as they filed out of the jet. "They look tired. I'm going to go meet them."

"You do that. I'm gonna go pee again."

"Stop bouncing on her bladder," Diana scolded the baby bump, snickering. She went outside and met them at the fence. "You made it," she said softly, taking in Natasha's distant look and everyone's equally drawn features. She hugged Natasha gently. "Come on," she urged, letting Clint walk Natasha into the house. She ushered Bruce, the last one in the line, up the stairs and into the house.

"What is this place?" Thor asked.

"A safe house," Diana replied. "Really, very safe. Top of the line."

"Honey. I'm home," Clint called. "Where's she?"

"Someone was standing on her bladder," Diana replied.

Natasha quirked a smile at that, her first actual expression since they'd touched down.

Laura came out. "Hi."

Clint swept her into a hug. "Hey. Diana told you right?"

"Yes. Thank you for the warning."

He kissed her lightly.

Tony looked dumbfounded. "This is an agent of some kind."

"Gentleman, this is Laura," Clint said.

She gave them a wave. "I know all your names."

"Oooh, incoming!" Clint said, his eyes lighting up as his children raced in.

"These are...smaller agents," Tony decided, watching Clint hug them.

Diana reached over and smacked him lightly. "You know they're not."

"You knew about this?" Steve asked, and all eyes went to her.

Diana nodded. "I knew Clint was married from the first day we met. He asked me not to say anything. I wouldn't lie to you, but no one ever asked, so I never said anything."

"Fury helped me set it up, off the books," Clint added. "I'd like to make sure it stays that way."

Steve nodded. "Sorry for intruding ma'am."

"We would've called ahead, but we were busy not knowing you existed," Tony added.

"No problem."

Thor suddenly strode out, eyes dark. Steve and Diana scrambled after him. "Where are you going?" Diana asked.

"I saw something, in that vision," Thor said. "I need answers, and I cannot find them here."

"Be careful," Diana said, squeezing his hand.

He kissed her fingers lightly, and flew off.

Diana turned to follow Steve inside. "Steve?" she asked gently, when he didn't move from the doorway.

"Sorry," he said distantly. "I just..."

"What did she show you?" Diana asked gently.

"The forties," he said, gaze unfocused. "Everything as it would have been..." He shook himself out of it and kissed her. "Never mind."

"And Bucky?"

Steve sighed. "I don't know. He won't say."

"Of course not." She smiled briefly. "I'll go check on Natasha first and then Bucky. Everyone else seems mostly okay." She pulled at his jacket. "Shower and change, mister. I brought you some clothes."

"Yes ma'am."

Diana headed upstairs. "Tasha?"

Natasha was in her room, the 'Auntie Nat' sign crooked on the door. She was sitting on the edge of the bed, staring blankly into space.

"Sore?" Diana asked, sitting next to her, touching her arm gently.

"Kind of." She looked around vaguely. "I was going to shower."

They heard the water turn on.

"Someone's in the shower," Natasha said slowly.

"Probably Steve." Diana squeezed her hand. "What did you see?"

"You and Steve gonna have kids, one day?" Natasha asked instead, after a long silence.

"If he ever asks me to marry him first, maybe." Diana frowned. "Is that-"

"The one thing that might matter more than a mission..." Natasha smiled sadly. "I thought I'd dealt with it. Haven't thought about it in years. But with James coming back, and then this mission... little Nathaniel... that Maximoff brat brought it all right back again."

"I'm sorry." Diana hugged her, wishing she could do more to help.

Natasha leaned her head on Diana's shoulder and they listened for the sound of the water turning off. "People are going to have to double up tonight."

Diana smiled. "Steve and Bucky won't mind sharing a bed. They used to all the time in the forties."

"Keep Steve from dying of cold," Natasha said, nodding. "He told me."

"You and Bucky," Diana said, grinning. "You knew him, before."

"He was always kind to me. Always teaching me how to survive."

"You will survive this," Diana assured her. She made her lay down. "Just rest for a minute."

"Stay?" Natasha asked uncertainly.

Diana curled up next to her. "Sure."

She let Natasha sleep until after Steve, Tony, and Bruce had showered, and carefully woke her up. "Go shower, you'll feel better."

As soon as the water began to run, Diana left to check on Bucky. He was staring out at the fields, vision blank, his metal arm glinting in the sun. "Bucky?" she called, from a few feet away.

He twitched, and turned to look at her. "Hey."

"Hey yourself. You okay?"

"I'm fine."

"You can't lie to your soulmates," she reminded him, nudging his shoulder gently. "Was it something from your lost years?"

"That's a nice way of putting it," he scoffed.

"Was it?"

"Yeah."

She stayed by his side for a few minutes, watching a bird flit among the grass. "There's clean clothes and a shower whenever you're ready," she said softly. "There's no hot water though, sorry."

"I'll be along in a minute."

"All right." She headed back to the house, and paused by the barn when she heard Tony talking.

"Look, it's been a really long day, so how's about we skip to the part where you're useful?"

"Look me in the eye and tell me you're going to shut him down."

Diana gaped. _Fury?_ Hill must've called him. She wondered where Coulson was.

"You're not the director of me."

"I'm not the director of anybody. I'm just an old man, who cares very much about you."

Tony huffed. "And I'm the man who killed the Avengers."

Diana gaped silently.

"I saw it," Tony continued. "I didn't tell the team. How could I? I saw them all dead, Nick. Felt it. The whole world, too. It's because of me. I wasn't ready. I didn't do all I could."

Diana's eyes filled with tears. No wonder he'd insisted they needed Ultron.

"The Maximoff girl, she's working you, Stark. Playing on your fear."

"I wasn't tricked, I was shown. It wasn't a nightmare; it was my legacy. The end of the path I started us on."

Diana rolled her eyes and walked into the barn. "You are the biggest drama queen I've ever seen, Tony Stark. You think you invented war?"

"That was my line," Fury retorted, not even facing her.

"I watched my friends die," Tony continued. "I watched _you_ die, Diana. I wasn't going to let that happen."

She shook her head. "No. What's happening here, is something that started thousands of years ago when aliens decided it was a good idea to mess with the primitive species. This is humans battling things we don't even understand, things we're so not ready for. That's why you built Ultron, because you wanted to shut out the things we're not ready for."

"Exactly. See, Nick, she gets me."

"But you're wrong, Tony. There's no way to shut it out. We've got to grow, and adapt, and learn from our mistakes. And starting a war before it starts is a mistake. One that you should've seen."

"You're starting to talk like Capsicle."

"Maybe because he's right."

Tony shook his head. "He's not, and neither are you."

"Well, Ultron is trying your strategy, trying to win a war before it begins, and he's definitely not right," Diana replied evenly. "Neither is your dream. We're not dead, none of us. We're right here. And you've got to get your head out of the future and into the here and now."

Tony sighed. "Let me fix this stupid tractor and I'll get back to you. Steve's ripping logs apart with his bare hands, if you want to go watch him."

Diana smirked. "Have you been looking at my boyfriend's muscles, Tony?"

"Kinda hard not to. All his T-shirts are too small for him."

Diana shrugged innocently. "I don't know what you're talking about. Not a clue."

"I think the lady doth protest too much," Tony smirked.

"I plead the fifth," Diana replied, blushing. "Dinner's in an hour. Don't get grease on your clothes." She left them there in the barn and found Steve chopping wood. "If you keep that up, they won't need wood for another hundred years."

Steve grinned but didn't even slow down. "Probably not."

"Do you want to pause the softcore lumberjack routine and come help with dinner?"

"I guess."

Between her, Steve, Laura, and Clint, they made dinner to feed eleven people and piled in. It was a testament to how worried everyone was that they all ate rather silently. Only Cooper and Lila didn't notice the adults' exhaustion. Diana and Laura tried to keep them busy drawing and playing with Legos while Fury briefed the Avengers. "So outwit the platinum-" Diana clapped her hands over Lila's ears.

"Steve doesn't like that kind of talk," Natasha informed Fury, smirking.

"You know what, Romanoff?" Steve said, annoyed.

"So what does he want?" Fury asked, getting them back on track.

"To become better. Better than us. He keeps building bodies. Person bodies. The human form is inefficient, biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed."

Bruce shook his head. "They don't need to be protected. They need to evolve. Ultron's going to evolve."

"How?"

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

From the silence, that would be a no. Diana helped Laura off the couch as the superheroes all headed for their gear. "Well, that was a short-lived hideaway."

They were all downstairs and ready within ten minutes.

"I'll take Natasha and Clint," Steve decided, slinging the shield onto his back.

Tony nodded. "All right. Strictly recon. I'll hit the NEXUS, I'll join you as soon as I can. If Ultron is really building a body...He'll be more powerful than any of us. Maybe all of us. An android designed by a robot."

Steve sighed. "You know I really miss the days when the weirdest thing science ever created was me."

Fury came over. "I'll drop Banner off at the tower. Do you mind if I borrow Ms. Hill?"

"She's all yours. Apparently. What are you gonna do?"

"I don't know. Something dramatic, I hope."

Diana raised a hand. "Can you give me a lift with Banner?"

"No," both Steve and Tony chorused.

She gave them a flat look. "If something happens to Bruce, who do you think is going to un-Hulk him?"

"Good point."


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Last part of AoU. Yay for Vision!**

The ride back to the Tower was swift and awkward. "So, how's Coulson?" Diana asked.

"He's fine. Working with us on this one."

"I thought so."

"Yep."

When they got to the tower, Hill was waiting for them. Fury traded two passengers for one, and Bruce and Diana headed inside. "What do we do now?"

"Get ready to receive the cradle, I guess. Up for a crash course in mad science?"

"With my soulmate? Always."

Tony joined them a few hours later, and immediately returned to working on whatever he was working on.

Clint brought the cradle another hour later.

"Where's Steve?" Diana asked.

"With the Maximoff twins. Ultron showed 'em his plan and they decided they didn't like genocide. Who knew? They're on our side now, he's briefing them. Anything on Nat?"

"Haven't heard. But she's alive, or Ultron'd be rubbing our faces in it."

Clint tugged at the locks on the cradle. "This is sealed tight."

Bruce nodded. "We're going to need to access the program, break it down from within."

Tony looked at Clint. "Any chance Natasha might leave you a message, outside the internet, old school spy stuff?"

"There's some nets I can cast. Yeah, all right. I'll find her." He headed out.

"I can work on tissue degeneration, if you can fry whatever operational system Cho implanted," Bruce started.

"Yeah, about that..."

"No," both Diana and Bruce said instantly.

"You have to trust me."

"Kinda don't," Bruce retorted.

Tony held up the tablet. "Our ally? The guy protecting the military's nuclear codes? I found him."

"Hello, Dr. Banner, Miss Lawrence."

"JARVIS!" Diana cheered. "Yes!"

"Ultron didn't go after Jarvis because he was angry. He attacked him because he was scared of what he can do. So Jarvis went underground, okay, scattered, dumped his memory. But not his protocols. He didn't even know he was in there, until I pieced him together."

Bruce frowned. "So, you want me to help you put Jarvis into this thing?"

"No, of course not! I want to help _you_ put Jarvis in this thing. We're out of my field here. You know bio-organics better than anyone."

"And you just assume that Jarvis's operational matrix can beat Ultron's?"

"Jarvis has been beating him from inside without knowing it. This is the opportunity, we can create Ultron's perfect self, without the homicidal glitches he thinks are his winning personality. We have to."

Bruce shook his head. "No. I'm in a loop. I'm caught in a time loop; this is exactly where it all went wrong. Diana, tell him."

Diana sighed. "I actually agree with Tony on this one."

"What?"

"We've gotta make a stand, and we've gotta do it now."

"Come on, Bruce."

The two scientists went into science bro mode and began to work on switching JARVIS for Ultron. Diana sat on the edge of the cradle and watched the body form. There was a glowing gem in the middle of the android body's forehead. "What's that?" she asked.

"Who knows. The power cell from Loki's sceptre?"

"The genetic coding tower's at 97 percent," Bruce reported. "You have got to upload that schematic in the next three minutes."

Suddenly Steve walked in, the Maximoff twins at his back. "I'm gonna say this once."

"How about "nonce"?" Tony asked snidely.

"Shut it down."

"Nope. Not gonna happen."

"You don't know what you're doing."

"Steve-" Diana started.

Bucky grabbed her arm gently and pulled her away. "Stay out of this, doll, they're gonna start swingin' in a second," he murmured.

Then Pietro pulled the power cord, Hawkeye shot at him, Steve and Tony started exchanging blows, Bruce almost throttled Wanda - and then Thor crashed through the Tower's glass windows, sending shards everywhere. Without waiting for anyone to move, he raised his hammer and brought pure lightning down onto the cradle, finishing the android body.

The top of the cradle flew open, and a red and silver being crouched on the edge of the box. He had a regal looking face, the little gem glowing faintly. He straightened to his full height, identifying all the people in the room. He saw Thor, and charged.

Thor threw the newly created android over his shoulder to the other side of the room. When he saw the lights of the city, his reflection in the mirror, the red and gold being froze. He stared, for a long few moments, and then turned to face the rest of the team, floating down to their level. "I'm sorry. That was...odd." He looked at Thor. "Thank you."

"Thor," Steve asked warningly. "You helped create this?"

Thor nodded slowly. "I've had a vision. A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center is that." He pointed at the android's forehead.

"What, the gem?"

"It's the Mind Stone. It's one of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities."

"Then why would you bring it to..."

"Because Stark is right," Thor declared.

"Oh, it's definitely the end times," Bruce said wryly.

"The Avengers cannot defeat Ultron," the new being said.

"Not alone," the being said.

"Why does your "vision" sound like Jarvis?" Steve asked.

"We reconfigured Jarvis' matrix to create something new."

"You think I'm a child of Ultron?"

"You're not?"

"I'm not Ultron. I'm not Jarvis. I am...I am."

"Cogito ergo sum," Diana whispered. Bucky raised an eyebrow at her. "What? He's a person now."

Wanda spoke up, tone scathing. "I looked in your head and saw annihilation."

"Look again," Vision invited her.

Clint scoffed. "Yeah. Like that'll do anything. Her seal of approval means jack to me."

"Then what about mine?" Diana asked, pulling away from Bucky's protective grasp and walking up to the tense group.

Vision looked at Diana and tilted his head. "What do _you_ think of me?" he asked.

She smiled gently, feeling the words burn on her skin. "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them. And you, my friend, are going to be all three."

Vision looked at her, astonished. "You."

"Yes."

"Diana, what's he talking about?"

She pulled her shirt up to reveal the slightly glowing words.

"You have _got_ to be kidding me."

She pulled her shirt down. "Nope, sorry."

"Seriously, Diana? Shakespeare?" Tony asked wryly.

"What? It totally fits. And he'll match the rest of you guys. That's nice, isn't it?"

"What are you all talking about?" Pietro asked.

Wanda looked at her, suddenly realizing. "I think I know. You are the soulmate, the only good thing in their minds among the bad."

"There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so." She grinned wryly. "I'd like to think that I'm the good part, yeah."

Wanda, already white, turned pale.

"Wait, wait, hold on a minute," Pietro said, holding up his hands. He looked at his sister. " _You_ are her soulmate?"

"Wait, what?" Bruce asked.

"I got three new marks before this whole thing started." She turned to Pietro. "You didn't see that coming?" Diana asked the speedster, raising an eyebrow.

"I can honestly say I did not," Pietro said slowly. Then his eyes snapped up to meet hers. "No. Way."

"You're twins. Gotta have the same soulmate." Diana shrugged.

"Okay, wait, now they're both -" Clint growled. "Diana..."

"What? I'm not apologizing. They're on our side."

"Are you?" Steve asked the three of them.

"We are," Pietro said, holding his sister's hand tightly.

"And you?" Steve continued, turning to Vision.

Thor spoke up. "Their powers. The horrors in our heads. Ultron himself. They all came from the Mind Stone, and they're nothing compared to what it can unleash. But with it on our side..."

"I don't think it's that simple," Vision said slowly.

"Well it better get real simple real soon."

"I am on the side of life. Ultron isn't. He will end it all." As Vision continued to speak, convincing the others, Diana smiled lightly. If JARVIS had to evolve, this was the best form for him. "There may be no way to make you trust me, but we need to go," Vision finished, handing Thor the hammer. He walked off.

"Right," Thor said, grinning. He patted Tony on the shoulder. "Good job."

"Three minutes," Steve said. "Grab what you need."

They all scattered. "Come on," Diana said, taking the twins' hands. "I'll show you the locker room."

"How did you know?" Pietro asked, as they followed her.

"I didn't. The soul marks only showed up a few days ago. Then you two appeared, and I guessed. And Vision, well, I've always loved JARVIS. It just figures." She handed Pietro a pair of sneakers. "I'd take extras."

He smiled slightly.

Diana picked one of Natasha's jackets for Wanda. "It should fit you."

"Why are you doing this?"

Diana smiled wryly. "I don't have superpowers. I can't go into battle. I'm kind of useless in that regard. What I _can_ do is help my soulmates prepare for the biggest fight of their life, and talk to them over comms. And when this is all over, I'm here for them. All of them. That includes my two newest ones." She left them to gear up and went to talk to Vision. "All geared up?" she asked quietly.

"I do not have gears."

She smiled gently. "You know what I mean."

"I do. And yes, I am prepared. I wish it could be different." He gave her a look. "Before, you told JARVIS, you would hug whoever your soulmates were."

She nodded. "I did say that."

"Well, before I go destroy Ultron and possibly the whole world, I would like to know what it feels like to be hugged."

"Like this." She wrapped her arms around him in a huge hug. She rested her chin on his shoulder, letting him acclimate. "What do you think?"

"I think I like hugs," he decided.

She snickered and released him. "I always knew JARVIS would be an ole softie. Who knew an Infinity Gem would be, too? Take care of yourself."

"I will try." He went inside and she followed him.

"No way we all get through this," Tony was saying. "If even one tin soldier is left standing, we've lost."

"It's gonna be blood on the floor," Bruce added.

"I got no plans tomorrow night," Steve started, and trailed off as he caught sight of Diana standing behind Tony. He frowned at her.

"I get first crack at the big guy. Iron Man's the one he's waiting for."

"That's true," Vision said. "He hates you the most."

"Ooh, burn," Diana said teasingly. "Definitely got some JARVIS in there."

"Not funny," Tony said.

"No, it's not," Diana replied, and sobered. "You will all get through this. You have to. You understand me?"

"Diana-"

"No," she said, kneeling in front of Steve to look him in the eye. "You _do_ have plans tomorrow night. You were gonna ask me something, remember? Let's make it a date. Two days from now. We'll do dinner."

He choked up. "Doll, last time I had a date with a beautiful woman before a battle, I never made it."

She rested her forehead against his. "I'm not Peggy," she said firmly, ignoring the tears blurring her vision. "And you are going to make it, do you hear me?"

"Yes ma'am," he replied, reaching up to wipe away her tears before kissing her fiercely.

"Good," she breathed, breaking away. She followed them out to the quin-jet, gave everyone a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Go save the world."

And they were off. Diana covered her mouth with her hand and tried not to cry. This was, possibly, the end of the world, and she could do nothing to save it except sacrifice her soulmates.

It wasn't twenty minutes later that a very familiar man in a suit walked into the room. "Miss Lawrence," he said.

"Director Coulson. Please tell me you have a plan to help that involves something more than 'dramatic'?"

He smirked. "Yes I do. Although it is really dramatic, it'll get the job done."

She grinned. "How can I help?"

He handed her a comm that was already wired in to the Avengers' frequencies. "Have they told you about these things called heli-carriers?" he asked casually.

Ultron was waiting for them when the Avengers reached Sokovia. So was Natasha.

"I thought you were trapped," Clint said, firing off an arrow at one of the Ultron bots.

"Oh please. Ten minutes after I sent that message I got out. I've been waiting for you guys to get here before I started working." She jabbed a piece of an Ultron bot through an oncoming one. "Let's go."

"Cap, you got incoming."

Steve grunted. "Incoming already came in." He rolled off the car. "Stark, you worry about bringing the city back down safely. The rest of us have one job: tear these things apart. You get hurt, hurt 'em back. You get killed, walk it off."

Diana, listening over comms added, "But don't get killed in the first place."

"I wouldn't recommend it," Coulson added, from beside her.

"Not funny, Director."

"It's a little funny."

She rolled her eyes at him. "A very little." She pointed at one of the screens. "What's that?"

"Hawkeye and Scarlet Witch are pinned down, anyone copy?" Coulson asked.

"Agent?" Stark asked over comms. "What are you doing?"

"Helping!"

"Okay, cool. On my way."

Scarlet Witch seemed to be having a meltdown. "How could I let this happen? This is all our fault."

Clint knelt in front of her. "Hey, look at me. It's your fault, it's everyone's fault, who cares. Are you up for this? Are you? Look, I just need to know, 'cause the city i-, is flying." He huffed. "Okay, look, the city is flying, we're fighting an army of robots, and I have a bow and arrow. None of this makes sense. But I'm going back out there because of my job. Okay? And I can't do my job and babysit. That's what Diana's for and she's not here right now. It doesn't matter what you did, or what you were. If you go out there, you fight, and you fight to kill. Stay in here, you're good, I'll send your brother to come find you, but if you step out that door, you are an Avenger."

"We should make Clint narrate a reality show one of these days," Diana observed. "He'd tell it to 'em straight."

"He'd get bored and wander off," Coulson corrected, watching him jump out of the container with a wince.

"That too. But before he got bored, he'd be hilarious."

"Yup."

The fighting continued, Diana wincing every time one of them got hurt. She snickered when, on one of the screens, Pietro whirled past Hawkeye.

"Keep up old man!"

Clint growled and nocked an arrow. "Nobody would know. Nobody." He aimed at the ground and broke into a quick jog. "Yeah, last I saw him, an Ultron was sitting on him, uh...yeah, he'll be missed, that quick little-"

"Please refrain from killing Miss Lawrence's other soulmates," Coulson interrupted dryly.

"Whatever, man," Clint said, rolling his eyes.

The retrieval of civilians began in true force, then, and Diana went outside to help. Directing civilians, soothing frantic people. She could still hear the Avengers on comms. Wanda was protecting the core while everyone else swept for stragglers and continued to fight Ultron bots.

"We can't let 'em leave, not one," Tony was telling Rhodey, who'd shown up late with his suit.

"Got it."

Then, as the last stragglers were coming onboard, a woman started screaming for her little boy. Diana turned to look, and saw Clint picking up the kid. She also saw the Ultron bot aiming right for them. "Run!" she screamed, her heart in her mouth, terrified that she was going to watch Clint die in front of her and oh-no-what-am-I-gonna-do-Nat-Laura-Cooper-Lila-baby-no-no-no-

And then she saw a blur of Pietro's hair, and he was shoving Clint and the boy out of the way. The three of them hit the dirt, two bullets catching Pietro in the leg. Vision finished off the Ultron bot in the sky.

Diana barely waited for Clint, the boy, and Pietro to get on the lifeboat before she grabbed her two soulmates. "That was too close," she sobbed, letting Pietro squeeze her hand while the medics put pressure on the wounds.

"Way too close," Clint agreed, falling back onto the bench, exhausted.

"You didn't see that coming?" Pietro asked teasingly, even though he was wincing.

"I will punch you," Clint warned, eyes closed.

Diana shook her head, feeling terror rip through her. "Wanda? Wanda, he's okay. Pietro's okay, he's fine. Keep your calm. Get out of there."

"On my way," she said. "Pietro, I'm gonna kill you."

"I think there's a line," he said, glancing at Clint, who seemed to have passed out from exhaustion.

"If I don't get to him first," Diana replied, leaning her forehead against Clint's side. "You should've covered your six, idiot. Laura's gonna slap you."

"Thor, on my mark," Stark ordered, his tone triumphant. "Now!"

Everyone on the lifeboats and the helicarriers stared as the giant meteor that was part of Sokovia was incinerated in mid-air.

"We did it," Steve said, awed. He sounded exhausted.

Diana made sure Wanda was with Pietro and checked in with the rest of the team. Steve, Tony, Thor, Clint, Bucky, Vision... "Where's Natasha and Bruce?" She clicked through the channels until she heard them.

"The job's finished," Natasha was saying, "Now I need you to turn this bird around, okay? We can't track you in stealth mode, so help me out. Bruce? You there?"

"Bruce," Diana said, transmitter on. "Big guy, you there? Can you come back, please?"

No reply.

"Really?" Diana asked. "You're gonna go off by yourself and not even gonna geek out with Tony and Vision? What about your Science Bro?"

"Metal Man?" came the quiet rumble.

"Yeah. He's gonna miss you, Hulk. I'm gonna miss you. Can you come back?"

"Banner fix," Hulk replied, and the comms went silent.

"Okay," Diana said, "I'm gonna assume that means whenever he's back to Bruce he'll contact us."

"That's everyone accounted for," Fury said.

"And no one died," Diana added. "That's good. That's..." She sat down, suddenly light-headed. "We totally did it." She went back to sit with Clint and the twins. Once they were transferred to the helicarrier, everyone reunited. There were hugs, cheers, and tears of joy on Diana's part.

"I told you," she said to Steve, kissing him in front of everybody and not caring. "I told you, you'd make it."

"Yes you did," he said, easily lifting her up and twirling her around. He held her close. "I love you."

"I love you too," she replied, and stepped back slightly. "Who's hungry?"

"ME!" came nine voices.

"Cool." She looked at Fury and Coulson. "We're going home now."

Fury sighed. "Take a quin-jet. Don't get into trouble. You know the drill. And Stark, for crying out loud, _don't_ play Frankenstein anymore, got it?"

Tony, being the mature individual he is, stuck his tongue out.

"Let's go before our super soldiers die of metabolism failure," Diana said, hustling them along.

They had to put the jet on auto pilot since everyone was too exhausted to fly it. "This is FRIDAY, everybody," Tony said, bringing up a new AI. "She's like the girl version of JARVIS, slightly less sassy."

"Please don't tell me you flirt with her."

"Nope, strictly business."

"Good." Diana looked at Vision. "How do you feel?"

"I don't know. I'm only a day old and I've already fought a war and killed my creator. I'm finding it just a bit difficult."

"You also defended an entire race against extinction, and made ten friends," Diana said softly. "It's not all bad, you know."

"No, it's not all bad."

"Don't worry, tomorrow's our day off," Tony said, falling asleep. "Everybody just relax, eat, sleep, you know."

FRIDAY spoke up. "Mr. Stark, Ms. Potts is calling."

"Oh shoot." He sat up straight. "Pepper? Hi. Yes, we're alive. Yep. Nope, totally fine."

"That reminds me, gotta call Laura," Clint said, digging his cell phone out of his pocket.

Thor frowned. "I must call Jane."

"I've gotta call my mom," Diana realized. "Oops." She turned on her cell phone and winced. Twenty-five missed calls. She rang her mother. "Hi mom."

"DIANA LAWRENCE! PLEASE TELL ME YOU SURVIVED!"

Diana winced. "Yes I did, I promise. Totally okay. I wasn't even there for most of it."

"Most of it!"

"All of it," she amended. "Everyone survived. Yep. We're all good. Yeah. We're on our way back to New York right now. Yes. I promise. Tomorrow, yep. Okay. I love you, mom. Bye." She hung up.

"Your mother is coming to see you tomorrow?" Wanda asked.

"Yep. Don't worry, you'll love her." Diana patted her on the shoulder. "Everything's going to be fine."


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: So, aftermath of the Avengers, and a very important question...**

They made it to Avengers Tower in one piece, Tony cried over the destruction of his penthouse and lab, and moved himself into Banner's apartment to sleep. Diana, being more awake than anyone else, stayed up with Pietro and Wanda in medical and showed them their apartment. "You two going to be okay?" she asked, giving them spare pajamas.

"We'll be fine," Wanda said. "Thank you."

"Good night." She walked back out to the hallway, and found Vision waiting for her. "Oh. hi. I completely forgot. Uh, you don't sleep, do you."

"No."

"Okay. Uh. Well, there's the TV. If you need anything, you know where I am. Or Tony, or Thor, or Steve, anyone really. Um, good night."

"Good night."

Diana showered, changed, fell into bed - and promptly burst into tears. It was either that or laugh like a maniac, and she didn't want FRIDAY to completely freak out.

"Shall I alert Mr. Stark?" FRIDAY asked anyway, anxiously.

"I'm fine," Diana replied, sniffling. "Just, stress relief. Ignore me."

"Yes miss."

Diana cried herself to sleep, woke up at three in the morning to check that everyone was still alive and safe, and went back to sleep. She didn't wake up until FRIDAY roused her the next afternoon. "Ms. Lawrence?"

"Whuh?"

"Your mother is here."

Diana bolted out of bed, tripped, and sat down on the bed with a yawn. "I'm not getting out of my pj's. Send her up, please?"

"Yes miss."

"Who else is up?" She threw on her green robe and tied her hair into a ponytail.

"Only Vision and Thor. Mr. Stark was awake but he returned to bed."

"Thanks." She shuffled out to the common floor just in time to meet her mom. "Mom."

"Oh my goodness, did I wake you up? I'm so sorry." Mrs. Lawrence hugged the breath right out of her, belying her words. "Are you hurt? Let me see."

"I'm fine mom." Diana yawned. "Just, tired. And most of that is everyone else is really tired, so I'm just feeling the stress." She took her mom's hand and led her over. "You remember Thor, right? And this is Vision. He's my newest soulmate."

"Mrs. Lawrence," Thor said politely, bowing over her hand.

"Hello dear." Mrs. Lawrence eyed Vision. "You're not human, are you?"

"No ma'am. I am an android."

"Oh. That's nice."

"I think so."

Diana laughed. "Thor have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet. I too have just awakened."

"Okay. I'll whip up some pancakes or something."

"I'll do it," Mrs. Lawrence said. "You sit down and rest."

"No really mom, I got it."

"You helped save the world. Let me mother you all, at least today."

Diana helped her anyway, since creating food for a god, two super soldiers, one enhanced metabolism, and seven hungry people was like feeding a small army.

Somehow, everyone got wind of pancakes, and began to shuffle down to the common room. Thor had already started the industrial-size coffee pot, and Mrs. Lawrence laughed as everyone who came in made a beeline for the caffeine.

First Steve and Bucky came down, looking relatively alert, although Steve's hair was sticking up every which way. Then Natasha came in, her hair frizzy and wearing mismatched slippers. Tony came in, dragging a reluctant Rhodey who'd spent the night in a guest room. Tony's hair was also insanely sticking up. Then the twins came in, looking hesitant, but Mrs. Lawrence fussed over them and they relaxed a bit. The last to come in was Clint, drinking straight out of the coffee pot from his own apartment.

"You think you got enough coffee, there, Hawkeye?" Steve asked, grinning.

"Nope. Fill 'er up, Cap."

"So this is what being a soulmate means?" Wanda asked, as everyone began eating, teasing each other good-naturedly and stealing each other's food.

"Pretty much," Diana said, nodding. "Not too bad, huh?"

"Not too bad," Wanda agreed.

Once afternoon breakfast was over, everyone gathered in the media room and Tony gingerly turned on the news. It was mixed, as always. Half the people thought the Avengers were heroes, half of them thought they were villains. At the moment they couldn't even leave the Tower since there were reporters for blocks surrounding the place.

"We need a place less high-profile than Manhattan to work from," Steve said, frustrated.

"There's always the mansion," Tony said, as everyone debated locations.

"What mansion?"

"There's a place, upstate, it used to be a mansion but it's more like another R&D for Stark Industries. The company doesn't really use it. It's out of the way, nice grounds, easy to secure, already got a complex of buildings." He pulled up the schematics. "Just one jet ride away from the Tower. What do you think?"

Steve nodded. "I think this'll work."

"Great. Let's talk floor plans."

"You guys talk floor plans, I have a sun room to finish," Clint declared, standing up. "Gonna go pack."

"You're leaving already?"

"My kid's going to be born in a couple months. I need to be there for my family."

"You'll come back though, right?"

"Well yeah. Can't let you have all the fun without me."

Diana and Natasha saw him off. "Give hugs and kisses to everybody," Diana said, kissing his cheek. "I'll come down when the baby's born, help out."

"That'd be great." He kissed her on the forehead. "Take care of everybody, especially those kids."

"Yep." She put his things in the car to let him and Natasha say bye, and waved as he drove away. She linked her arm with Natasha's as they walked upstairs. "How are you doing? You okay?"

"I'm okay," Natasha assured her. "Everything is where it's supposed to be."

Diana nodded. "I'm glad."

Steve paced anxiously, waiting for Tony to come back to his lab. "Tony!"

"Ah! Capsicle, what are you trying to do, kill me? What do you want?"

"I need advice."

"I told Steve to just ask, but he's a wimp," Bucky added, from the sofa.

"Ask what?"

"Punk," Steve said.

"Jerk," Bucky retorted.

"Ask what?" Tony repeated.

Steve tossed him a small black velvet box. "What do you think, Stark?"

Tony opened the box to find a rose gold engagement ring. His jaw dropped. "You're finally gonna pop the big question! Good for you!"

"Yeah, if he can remember how to speak English," Bucky snickered. "He's been meaning to ask for weeks."

"There was never a good time," Steve complained.

"That whole 'we survived yay' moment would've been pretty good," Tony observed.

"Thank you, Tony, so helpful."

"I try." Tony shook his head. "You can make inspiring speeches to troops but you can't figure out a way to say 'will you marry me?'"

"I can't talk to dames," Steve said, pacing. "I never could."

"You talk to Diana just fine."

"That's normal though. This is _important_."

"Steve, calm down. No matter how you ask, even if you fall on your face or stutter in Gaelic, she's gonna say yes."

"That's what I said," Bucky complained.

"See? You'll be fine. Just, take her to dinner, bring her back, propose on the balcony."

"The one Ultron shattered?" Steve asked wryly.

"Oh yeah. Okay, so propose in the banquet hall. Just, somewhere we can watch over cameras because there's no way we're missing it."

Steve groaned. "I didn't need to know that."

"Okay look, you promised her dinner tomorrow night, right? Just do it then. Where are you going?"

"That restaurant on the waterfront."

"Cool. Just, go, eat, come back, and propose- you know what? You should propose in the library."

"No good," Bucky advised. "She'd get distracted."

"Not if Steve went gooey-eyed on her," Tony said. "When he does that face, that one, right there, she stares."

Steve turned red. "I don't do a face."

"Yes you do. It's the same one Tony does when Pepper comes in a room."

"I do not go 'gooey-eyed'," Tony protested.

"Yeah, you do."

"Whatever." Tony handed back the ring box. "You've got this, Cap. Just think: 'covert ops.'"

Diana knew there was something strange about their date that night. Bucky and Tony kept giggling like a pair of teenage girls, Vision kept looking at her with this inscrutable expression, and Natasha kept on randomly smiling at her, which was the strangest thing of all because Natasha does not randomly smile outside of Cooper and Lila's vicinity. She finally cornered Bucky in the training room by sitting on him while he was doing push-ups.

"Oof, what-" He managed to flip over and sit across from her on the exercise mat. "What's up, doll?"

She frowned down at him. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean what's going on?" he asked, giving her his best 'Winter Soldier' face.

She raised an eyebrow, unfazed. "You and Tony have been giggling like twelve-year-old girls since yesterday, and Natasha's started being weird too. What do you know that I don't?"

"How to kill people with a paper clip?" he offered weakly.

"Nope. Try again." She leaned forward. "You can't lie to me, Bucky."

He groaned and wiped his face with his sleeve. "C'mon, Di, don't do this to me. I swore I'd keep it a secret."

"You shouldn't have told Tony then."

"But Steve asked him-"

She grinned. "Ha! Asked him what?"

"You know..." Bucky gestured meaningfully. "How to ask you a question...?"

Then it clicked. Diana's jaw dropped. " _What_?" she squealed. " _Seriously?_ "

"He's been working up the nerve for weeks," Bucky admitted. He watched her fall back onto the mat, stunned. "You are going to say yes, right?"

"Well yeah," she replied, staring at the ceiling. "It's just, with the whole move upstate and the new team members, I didn't think it would be this _soon_." She bolted upright. "Oh my goodness. I need to start getting ready."

"It's only one o'clock."

"Yeah. I've only got five hours!" She kissed him on the forehead. "Thanks, Buck."

"Just don't tell him I told you."

"Scared of the big bad captain?" she teased.

"Nope, the scrappy little punk who's proposing to the love of his life." He watched her go out and returned to his exercise. Steve was gonna kill him...

"Natasha! I need your help!" Diana exclaimed, startling the spy as she burst into the room.

"With what?"

"You _know_ ," Diana said bouncing onto the couch. "The _thing_. _With Steve_."

Natasha frowned. "I'm gonna kill Stark."

"It was Bucky," Diana said shamelessly. "You didn't do a very good job of secrecy either, you know, grinning at me for half an hour."

Natasha smiled at her. "I couldn't help it. I'm happy for you, really happy."

"Good, because you need to help me. If he's really going to, you know, _ask_ , I want to look my best." Diana grabbed her hands. "Please say you'll help me."

"Of course I will." Natasha squeezed her hands tightly. "Come on. We'll find Wanda and she can help."

The three of them went shopping, found a dress for Diana, all of them got manicures ("we saved the world, we deserve a little pampering"), facials, and returned to the tower to get ready. Pepper arrived from Korea around that time. She was informed of the upcoming question, and completely ignored Tony in favor of Diana. Between the three women, Diana was ready by six, wearing a dark red dress and matching heels, her makeup highlighting her eyes ("it's all waterproof right, because I know I'm going to cry"), and her hair done in soft waves, pinned away from her face.

"You look amazing," Natasha said, giving her a light hug.

"You look so nice Steve's going to forget his speech from staring at you," Wanda added, giggling.

Diana laughed. "I hope not. Can you do a mind-thing, maybe help him out?"

Wanda smirked. "Nope, sorry."

"Oh well." Pepper handed her a purse and jacket, and they took the elevator down to the common floor. Everyone was standing there to see her off. "Well you all look expectant," Diana said, amused.

They all immediately looked guilty and tried to act normal. "Just, wanna see you off," Tony said, shrugging. "You look nice."

"Thank you, Tony."

Steve appeared, then, and when he saw her, he let out a low whistle. "You look gorgeous, doll," he said softly, a reverent smile on his face. "Absolutely amazing." He held out his arm. "Shall we?"

She smiled. "Let's."

"Don't stay out too late," Bucky called, and he and Tony both snickered.

"Infants," Natasha muttered, smacking them both upside the head.

Diana hid a smile. "So where are we going?" she asked.

"That restaurant on the waterfront," Steve replied, helping her into the car.

"Oh, that place was lovely."

He smiled at her.

Diana honestly did not remember what they talked about on the drive over, or what she ate during dinner, or how many people took pictures of them. She knew they did though, because she remembered camera flashes. The only thing she remembered was the smile on Steve's face and the twinkle in his eyes, the way his hand fit over hers as they held hands across the table, and the flutter in her stomach when he chuckled at something.

Steve was so nervous he couldn't eat. He knew, vaguely, what he wanted to say, and he knew somehow that Diana knew what he was up to, but for the life of him, he didn't care. She was so beautiful, sitting there across from him in the low lights of the restaurant, that all he could do was smile. Ultron, Loki, HYDRA, facing all of it was worth it to be sitting there, watching her smile and laugh and quote Shakespeare at him. He could feel the ring burning a hole in his pocket but he ignored it, trying to fix every moment of this night in his memory. His fingers itched for his sketchbook, and he promised himself he'd draw her as she looked this evening.

Finally, dinner was over, and they walked along the water's edge. There were too many people, though, and Steve did not want to propose on a sidewalk. "Shall we go back to the tower?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand. "Sure."

Their ride back to the tower was comfortably quiet, and the light swing music on the radio was pleasant.

He offered her his arm once they got there, and punched the button for the labs.

"We going to visit Tony?" Diana asked innocently.

He smiled. "Not quite. Did you know Stark Industries has an agricultural lab?"

"Really?"

"Genetically modified plants, apparently," Steve said. "I borrowed Stark's access for the evening."

"They're not going to eat us, right?"

"Nope. No Venus fly traps, I promise."

"Good, because I've read that book and I didn't like it." She trailed off as the door opened into the labs. "Wow..."

Steve looked around, once again impressed at the sheer amount of plants they'd managed to fit inside. "There's a bench somewhere around here," he said, leading her over to the side. He should know, he placed it there earlier today.

She sank onto the wooden bench in the middle of the green space, and looked up at the ceiling, which was projecting a full sun-spectrum of light and warmth. "I think this is my new favorite space in the tower," she said, "it's perfect."

He sat next to her and took her hand. "I'm glad you like it. I made an arrangement with the scientists here. You can come and read on this bench whenever you like, and they won't kick you out."

"Really?" She kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Steve."

"Anything for my girl," he said warmly. "I love you, Diana."

"I love you too." She smiled at him.

 _Now. Go now_. He knelt in front of her. "Diana..."

She blinked down at him. "Steve?"

"I know you know what I'm going to say," he started, giving her a nervous smile, his heart like a trip hammer in his chest, "but let me say it anyway, all right?"

She nodded silently, her eyes sparkling as she started to smile.

"Diana, my love, my soulmate," he said, smiling at her gently. "When I was in the forties, I always wondered if I would survive to meet my soulmate. There were a few times that sheer stubbornness and Bucky were the only things that pulled me through. And when I went into the ice, it killed me to leave my soulmate behind. But I didn't, because you were waiting for me in the future." He paused to kiss her fingers gently. "And every day that passed, I fell more and more in love with you. These last few months, with you here, I've been happier than I've ever been in my life. No matter what evils we end up fighting, with you I've finally found someone to come home to." He took the box out of his pocket and presented it to her. "Will you make me the happiest man in the universe and marry me, Diana?"

She had tears in her eyes as she stared at the beautiful ring. "Yes, yes, of course," she said, lifting her gaze to smile at him.

He cupped her face in his hands and leaned up to kiss her, his heart soaring with joy. When he finally drew back and slipped the ring onto her finger, he wiped the tears away from her cheeks gently.

"It's beautiful, Steve," she whispered, looking back at the ring.

"I based the design on my mother's ring," he said, twining his fingers with hers. "I hoped you'd like it."

"I love it." She kissed him lightly. "And, you made it through your speech without stuttering."

"I did, didn't I? You inspired me." He leaned in to whisper in her ear, "Do you think they're still watching?"

"Probably," she murmured back. She pressed a kiss to his cheek and drew back. "So, are we going to elope now?" she asked in a normal voice.

He stifled his grin. "Of course. We've been planning it for days, it'd be a shame to waste our tickets."

"Yep. Our stuff in the car?"

"Yes ma'am. I put it there before we left." He helped her up and they got in the elevator. "FRIDAY, to the parking garage, please. We have a plane to catch."

The elevator stalled. "I'm sorry, Captain Rogers. Sir has overridden my protocols to return you to the common floor."

They shared a grin.

As soon as the doors opened they were pounced on by the remaining Avengers. " _Elope?_ " Tony screeched, channeling his inner teenager again. "You guys had better be kidding!"

Diana smirked. "You all are the worst eavesdroppers I've ever seen in my life. Of course not, my mother would kill me if I eloped."

Thor embraced Steve and then Diana. "Congratulations on your betrothal," he said, smiling at them both. "I am pleased for you both."

Everyone else clamored for hugs and congratulations, and it was a happy group that oohed over her ring and teased Steve about his nerves.

"You should've seen him, toting that bench back and forth for hours earlier, trying to figure out just where to put it," Tony said, snickering.

"It was perfect," Diana declared.

"Clint's going to be sorry he missed this," Bucky said.

Natasha grinned. "Not really. I live-streamed it directly to his tablet."

"Who else did you send it to?" Steve asked.

Diana, Tony, and Natasha shared a grin. "Coulson," they all chorused. Tony smirked. "He's probably weeping tears of joy that his idol is getting his happy ever after."

"Speaking of which," Pepper said, "how long do we have to plan the wedding?"

Steve and Diana shared a glance. "Let's get everything settled, first," Diana said, squeezing Steve's hand. "There's no way we can do a wedding _and_ move the Avengers upstate at the same time."

"You don't mind waiting?" Steve asked anxiously.

She smiled at him teasingly. "Just think of it as an incentive."

Bucky groaned. "Great, now we're gonna be working twenty six hour days. Thanks, doll."

Everyone laughed.

Moving the Avengers from the Tower to the new facility did involve almost constant work. Fury agreed to come work with them, acting as liason between the Avengers and the new SHIELD, and the Avengers agreed to host a SHIELD training facility as well, on the understanding they could use them as backup.

Between building, moving, planning, recruiting, and rebuilding from the chaos of Ultron, the weeks flew by. Wanda, Pietro, and Vision gelled nicely with the team, and both Rhodey and Sam Wilson signed up as full time members.

"You're going to quit, aren't you?"

The quiet question made Tony wince. "Can't sleep either?" he asked Diana, patting the seat next to him on the sofa.

"I could feel you brooding half a building away," she replied, taking a seat. She curled her legs up under her and frowned at him. "So are you?"

"Brooding?"

"Leaving?"

He sighed. "I don't know. Maybe. Yes."

"Why?"

He looked up at her. "Diana, I almost caused the end of the world."

"You fixed it though."

"But I let it happen in the first place." He shook his head. "I need to take a break. I'm going to spend time with Pepper, just, enjoy the moment, you know? Tinker, invent, take a break from the fight."

She reached out to squeeze his hand lightly. "You will come back for the wedding, though, right?"

"Of course. Wouldn't miss it for the world." He kissed hte top of her head. "You two finally set a date?"

"Four months from now."

Tony nodded. "I'm really happy for you, Diana. Steve is a good man. Good enough to have you as a soulmate."

"I'm your soulmate, too, Tony." She leaned against his shoulder. "Just because I'm getting married doesn't change the fact that I'm here for you."

He nodded. "I know."

"Good. Don't forget." She stood up and kissed his forehead. "I'm going back to bed."

"Night."

After two months of hard work, the new Avengers facility was up and running. With everything settled, Thor decided to return to Asgard. Tony, Steve, and Diana saw him off.

"Will Odin be annoyed the Mind Stone is here?" Diana asked.

"No. The Mind Stone will be safe with Vision," he declared. "If he is worthy enough to lift the hammer, he is worthy enough to protect it."

"Are you coming back for the wedding?" Steve asked.

"I cannot promise anything, but I will try my hardest." Thor shook his head. "The Mind Stone is the fourth of the Infinity Stones to show up in the last few years. That's not a coincidence. Someone has been playing an intricate game and has made pawns of us. Once all these pieces are in position..."

"Triple Yahtzee?" Tony asked lightly.

Thor gave him a Look.

"You think you can find out what's coming?" Steve asked.

"I do." Thor turned to Diana and gave her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek. "I will come back soon," he said. "Look after them all."

"I will." She kissed his cheek in return. "Stay safe."

He nodded, and stepped back. In a flash of light and energy, he was gone, the Bifrost leaving a stamp in the grass.

"That man has no regard for lawn maintenance," Tony said snidely.

"I'm gonna miss him though," Steve said, shaking his head.

"And you're gonna miss me," Tony declared. "There's gonna be a lot of manful tears."

"I will miss you, Tony," Steve said, squeezing his shoulder.

"Yeah? Well, it's time for me to tap out."

"Don't be a stranger," Diana added. "I expect to see you and Pepper regularly."

"Yes ma'am. Maybe I should take a page out of Barton's book and build Pepper a farm. Hope nobody blows it up."

"The simple life," Steve said, wrapping an arm around Diana's waist.

Tony grinned. "You'll get there one day. Eight weeks and counting."

Diana smirked. "At the rate we're going it'll be three months, at least. There's too much to do, and Steve's not the settle down type."

"Too righteous," Tony agreed.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Come on, guys."

Diana leaned over to give Tony a hug. "Tell Pepper hi, and call me when you get to Malibu."

"Yes dear," Tony said. He jumped into his car and drove away.

Diana and Steve watched him go and then walked back inside. "Where's Natasha?" Steve asked.

"Probably still looking for Bruce. He hasn't said a word in two months." Diana sighed. "I'm really starting to worry about him."

"We'll find him," Steve assured her. "Or he'll contact us, whichever happens first."

"Yeah." Diana dug out her phone. "Did you see the picture Clint sent of the baby?" She showed him the snapshot. "Isn't he cute?"

"Very," Steve said. "You leave for the farm tomorrow, right?"

"Yes. Speaking of which, I need to pack." She kissed him on the cheek and headed down the hallway.

Diana spent a week at the Barton family farm, giving an exhausted Clint and Laura time to sleep, and providing a distraction for Cooper and Lila. She absolutely fell in love with the baby, and when she returned to New York, requested constant updates and pictures.

She was met at the airport by Pietro and Wanda. "Steve and Tasha finally let you out of the training facility?" she asked, amused.

"It's not so bad," Pietro said, shrugging. "How is my small namesake?"

Diana grinned. "He's fat, and adorable. And he only sleeps ninety minutes at a time, tops. See my raccoon eyes?"

Wanda smiled. "Steve will be happy you've returned. He's been looking very, forlorn, lately."

"I was only gone a week."

"And he's been depressed for six days," Pietro added. "It's ridiculous."

As soon as they returned to the complex, Pietro picked up Diana and zoomed inside with her. He placed her in front of Steve and Natasha, who were going over battle strategies. "Here's your fiancée, now you can stop being grumpy," Pietro declared, and zoomed away again.

Diana took half a breath, and was suddenly picked up again, her arms full of super soldier. "Hey, stranger," she said, kissing his cheek as he hugged her tightly. "Did you miss me?"

"More than anything," he said, placing her feet gently on the floor again. He cupped her face and bent to kiss her. "I love you."

"I love you too." She wrapped her arms around his neck as their lips met.

Natasha grinned and slipped away.

Once they had kissed each other breathless, Steve finally let Diana out of his arms. "How are Clint and the family?" he asked.

"Sleep deprived," she answered, grinning wryly. "Little Nate is a regular alarm clock. He goes off every ninety minutes and only has a snooze button."

"I'm sure they were grateful for your help," Steve said, smiling.

"Clint begged me to send Natasha down, next," Diana said, grinning. She stifled a yawn. "Ugh. I wanna sleep for at least a day, maybe two."

Steve swept her into his arms. "Come on, then."

"You're much better at carrying me than Pietro," Diana observed, snuggling into his broad shoulder as he carried her.

"I try," Steve said modestly, and then belied the modesty with a smirk. He soon reached her room, and dropped her carefully on the bed. "Get some sleep," he said. "We can catch up later, and you can show everyone pictures." He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I'm glad you're back."

"Me too," she said, nestling among her pile of pillows. She dug a book from under one of the pillows. "Ah ha! I've been looking for you..."

Steve shook his head, amused, and shut the door behind him as he left. He smiled his way down to the mess hall to see what they could have for dinner.

"Diana back?" Sam asked, joining him at the menu table.

"Yes she is. How'd you know?"

"You're smiling again."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Next chapter finally! Adventure and a little bit of family angst in this one.**

Diana slept the rest of the afternoon and woke up at six. "Did I miss dinner?" she asked the ceiling drowsily.

"No miss Lawrence. Dinner is at 6:30."

"Oh good." She jumped into the shower, dressed in a pair of lounge pants and a soft long-sleeve shirt. She was just putting her hair into a braid when someone knocked. 'Come in!"

Natasha entered the room. "Oh good, youi're up. I came to get you." She stood behind Diana and took over the braiding.

"Is that a box braid?" Diana asked, craning her head to look at it.

"Maybe," Natasha replied, smirking.

"Show off."

Natasha hugged her gently. "There. All done."

Diana stood up and they walked arm in arm to the team dining room. It was a big, sixteen person table set in a homey room, separated from a fully stocked kitchen by a low wall and a breakfast counter. It was the perfect space for family dinners, and already felt familiar after only a couple weeks.

"Hey, you're awake," Bucky said, noticing her first and scooping her into a hug. "Thank goodness, if Stevie was gonna sulk through another meal I was gonna punch him."

"Yeah, you're not allowed to leave again," Sam added, "unless you take him with you, of course."

Steve turned red. "I was not sulking-"

"Yes you were," five voices chorused good-naturedly.

Diana kissed him lovingly. "My poor captain, so persecuted."

"Okay, okay, let's eat," Rhodey said. "You guys can make out later."

After dinner, Diana showed everyone pics of the new Barton baby, and Nat and Steve updated her on what new things had happened. "We set up an office for you to work from here," Natasha said. "So we can keep you close and when you need to go down to the city you can take the jet."

"We made sure it's three quarters bookshelves," Steve added. "Vision did most of that."

Diana smiled. "You are the best, you guys. Seriously the best."

"It's like we're soulmates or something," Natasha dead-panned.

Even with her own office, Diana still had to be in the city every day to work with the media department. People were still going crazy over the Ultron/Sokovia incident, and there were things to be done.

"When are you coming back?" Wanda asked, over the phone.

"Friday." Diana checked her email. "Gotta go. Tell everyone hi."

Diana was working on the latest press releases for the Avengers, when she got a call from one of the receptionist desks. "This is Diana Lawrence."

"Ms. Lawrence, there's a man here, says he's your father. A Mark Lawrence?" the receptionist said. He was nice, his name was Jared. He would make coffee on Fridays.

Diana's face paled. "A-all right, Jared, thanks. Um, tell him I'm out, okay? And, I'm busy or gone whenever he comes back. Okay?"

"No problem, Miss Lawrence. Do you want me to get security to keep him out?"

Diana winced. "No, I don't think that'll be necessary, thank you."

"Miss Lawrence," FRIDAY said, sotto voce, "is there a problem?"

Diana sighed. "No, Friday, everything's fine."

"Are you certain? Records indicate you have not seen your father since you were three years old."

"I haven't," she said flatly. "It's fine. Just, tell me if he tries to come around again, okay?"

"Yes miss Lawrence."

She smiled gratefully up at the ceiling and returned to staring at her screen, although her mind was a million miles away. What was her dad even doing here?

"Diana?"

"What?" she turned around, startled. "Right. Speech. Sorry." She forced the issue of her estranged father to the back of her mind to deal with later.

It was five thirty, and she was going upstate to the New Avengers facility. Tomorrow was movie day, a well-deserved break from the hard training the new team had been doing.

"Hey doll, ready for the flight up?" a new voice asked.

"Tony!" She turned, delighted, and was swept up into a hug. "I thought you were in Malibu!"

"I was. Pepper had to go off on another tour so I thought I'd come up to the East Coast, see how my other best girl is doing." He kissed her forehead. "Shall we pick up food for everybody before we head up to the mansion? I was thinking shawarma."

"Sounds perfect."

He gave her an odd look. "You okay, Diana?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." She gave him a brief hug. "Let's go."

"All right. Friday, get us a car?"

"Yes sir."

They headed down to the main floor and Diana checked out of the building. "Okay, let's go. See you later, Jake."

"See you later."

They walked out of the building, and as they were looking for Happy and the car, a man called out, "Diana!"

Diana stiffened and grabbed Tony's arm tightly. "Let's go," she urged.

"Who's that?" he asked, turning around to see.

"Nobody, let's go."

"Diana!" The older, heavy set man with a two-day scruff ran up to them and grabbed her arm. "I knew you were in there!"

"Hands off," Tony interrupted, pulling the man away and stepping in front of his soulmate protectively. "Who are you?"

"I'm her father," the man said, glaring at Tony. He looked at Diana. "Won't you talk to me, sweet heart?"

"I don't want anything to do with you," she said, shaking her head.

"Now listen here you little brat," he started.

Tony blocked him. "You heard the lady. There's nothing to say." He ushered Diana into the car and Happy drove them away. He turned to Diana. "So. Your old man is a bit scraggly, isn't he?"

She made a face and buried her face in his shoulder. "Shut up, Tony."

"I'm sorry," he said sincerely, wrapping an arm around her. "But seriously, since when did he get here?"

"Since this morning," she confessed. "I didn't want to deal with him so I told Jake to say I was out."

Tony nodded. "When was the last time you saw him?"

"When I was twelve, he sent me a letter on my birthday." She sighed. "I don't know why he's trying to contact me now."

Tony raised an eyebrow and held up his Stark phone to show her a Twitter update with Diana's picture on it. "Maybe this is why, Miss Avengers Team Soulmate?"

She hid her face again. "Can we just go?"

"Yeah, doll. Of course."

They stopped at pizza, got on the quin jet, and went upstate. Steve and Vision met Tony at the landing field. "Pizza's here!" Tony sang out, handing Vision the boxes. He turned to Steve. "And, we need to talk about our soulmate."

"Where is she?" Steve demanded.

"She's asleep in the jet. But, more importantly, her father came around to Stark Tower today. He wanted to talk to her, but we left him on the sidewalk."

"Is she all right?" Steve pressed.

"She's going to need a lot of cuddles." Tony slapped him on the shoulder. "Go get your girlfriend, Cap."

He went into the jet and found Diana passed out on one of the bench seats. He smiled fondly and bent over to press a kiss to her forehead.

Her eyes opened lazily. "We there? Oh, hi Steve." She stood up and stretched, stifling a yawn.

"Long day at work?" Steve asked, picking up her bag and wrapping an arm around her.

"Yeah, we finished three projects today. Proof reading's just evil." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "Tony tell you what happened?" she asked, as they walked out.

"Yes he did." He paused and turned to look at her. "You want to talk about it?"

"Not right now. Food first." She pressed a kiss to his lips. "We brought pizza."

They ate, all her soulmates distinctly not talking about parentage in any form, all of them giving her protective, concerned glances. Diana got fed up with it halfway through pizza. "Seriously guys, stop."

They all looked at her guiltily.

"Yes, my dad came by today. Yes, I'm a little upset that he came around without warning. No, we are not making a big deal out of this. Okay?" she demanded.

Steve reached for her hand tentatively. "We're worried."

"I know. Thank you." She squeezed his hand tightly. "But really, it's okay."

"I'm afraid that you might want to hold off on that sentiment," FRIDAY said gently. "Mark Lawrence has just been detained by security at the facility perimeter."

Diana let her head thump forward onto the table. "Seriously."

Steve stood up. "Right. Let's finish this. Bucky, Tony, Wanda, you're with me."

The four of them headed out, and the rest stayed with Diana. "Can we get a video feed?" Diana asked FRIDAY.

FRIDAY pulled up the screen helpfully. As they watched the four super soldiers approach the handcuffed Mark Lawrence, they realized it was not just Steve, Bucky, Wanda, and Tony. It was Captain America, Scarlet Witch, Iron Man, and the Winter Soldier, in full scary straight-backed form.

Mark Lawrence seemed to have realize this, and he straightened up unconsciously.

"We'll handle it," Steve said, dismissing the security officers. He leveled a glare at Lawrence. "Mr. Lawrence. What is your business here?"

"I'm here to see my daughter."

"You gave up the right to call her your daughter when you walked out on her twenty-two years ago," Steve said flatly.

"That's none of your business."

The Winter Soldier stepped forward, towering over Lawrence and getting close to his face. "You made it our business by coming here to harass our girl. You want to talk to her? You get through us."

"So start talking," Tony demanded.

Lawrence squirmed uncomfortably in the handcuffs, and glanced at the door.

"Don't even think about it, mister," Steve said, giving him the patented 'Captain America is disappointed in you' look.

Lawrence slumped. "All right, all right. Fine. I came to see Diana to see if she could lend me some money."

Diana winced and curled into herself. "FRIDAY, turn it off," she said quietly. Silently, Natasha reached over and wrapped an arm around her protectively. Clint hugged her on the other side, and, sandwiched in between the super spies, Diana sighed. "I had really hoped he would've said something like 'I came to apologize for abandoning you', or something like that."

Clint kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry, doll."

"It's not your fault," she replied, leaning her head on his shoulder and squeezing Natasha's hand. "I am gonna need some ice cream after this, though."

"As soon as the others get back," Natasha promised.

"Continue," Bucky said flatly, completely oblivious to the feed that had switched off above their heads.

"I lost my money in some, ah, business dealings," Lawrence continued. "I knew there was no way Di's mom would give me anything, so I thought I'd find my daughter." He winced away from Steve's reflexive clenching of his fist. "I wasn't going to hurt her, I would never. I was just going to see how she was set up, if she had enough to lend me some money till I won it back. I mean, earned. Earned it back."

"What made you think she had anything to give you?" Steve asked, scowling.

"She's the Avengers' plaything," Lawrence replied matter-of-factly. "You don't have to deny it. I've seen the pics, the papers. Every single one of you has been all over her. I figured living in the Tower, working for Stark, she's got cash to burn."

By the end of his little speech, Wanda was using her full telekinetic powers to hold back all three of the men from beating the tar out of Lawrence. Even then, Steve was red-faced, beyond furious, and the other two were five seconds behind him.

"You should be glad I am here," she advised Lawrence quietly, even as her eyes glared red under the strain. "If not, they would have killed you by now." She released all three of them, and Steve's fist crashed into Lawrence's face, breaking his nose with a satisfying 'crack' as blood began to pour.

"Now listen up, you worthless piece of trash," Steve said angrily, hauling the man up, his feet dangling a few inches off the ground. "Diana is not, and never will be, anyone's plaything. She is our soulmate."

Lawrence sputtered. "Wha-"

Steve tossed him onto the floor harshly and pulled his shirt up, exposing his soul mark to Lawrence's view. "See this? Soul mark. Your daughter, Lawrence, your wonderful, brilliant, amazing daughter, has ten of these. And guess how many Avengers there are?"

"I'll give you a hint, there's ten," Tony added. He sobered quickly, his expression wrathful. "Which means there's ten of us that will hunt you down and put you in a world of hurt if you even so much as think of impugning Diana's honor again. Because if there's one thing you can be sure we'll avenge, it's her."

Lawrence stared at them, open-mouthed.

"Can I hit him now?" Bucky asked.

"Be my guest."

A well-placed punch from Bucky's metal arm knocked Lawrence unconscious, and he was dragged from the room. "FRIDAY, blacklist him," Tony said tensely. "Job, rep, credit, everything. Leave him just enough to live on, if he's smart. And get into his background. He was way too comfortable skulking around not to be a criminal."

"On it, sir," FRIDAY replied. "I have several leads..."

"Tablet," Tony ordered. "Nice punch, Steve," he added, before leaving the room.

Steve nodded stiffly, and glanced at Wanda. "Thank you."

She gave him a soft smile. "That's why you brought me, isn't it?"

"Well, it's kind of bad form to throttle your soulmate's father," Steve said, shrugging. "And I knew that one of us would end up punching him." He shook out his hand lightly. "Let's go back."

They went back to the dining room and Clint moved aside to let Steve wrap his arms around Diana. "You all right, doll?" Steve murmured, kissing her cheek lightly.

"Where is he?" she asked, frowning up at him.

"They're escorting him from the property," Steve said. "He won't bother you ever again."

Her eyes swept over his face, reading his expression. "What did he want? Just money?"

"I'm sorry, Diana."

She sighed and buried her face in his chest. "Oh well. I wasn't expecting anything different."

Vision came over to her, then, and knelt in front of her. "Ice cream, you said?" he asked, holding out a bowl of rocky road and a spoon.

She laughed. "You read my mind, Vision."

The tension of the evening over, they finished up their dinner and decided to watch a movie. Halfway through In the Heart of the Sea - "doesn't that guy look like Thor?" "Ha, yeah right" - Tony walked in, nose still buried in his tablet.

"FRIDAY, pause," Tony ordered.

"Hey!" Clint protested, throwing a pillow at him.

"Pay attention," Tony said, throwing the screen of his tablet onto the movie screen. "Look."

"Lawrence's financials?" Natasha asked.

"Yes."

Diana stiffened, and Steve rubbed her shoulder lightly. "What are we looking at?" Steve asked.

"Just yesterday, he received fifty thousand dollars from an unnamed source. And a week before that, he was paid fifty more thousand. Whatever he wanted, it was not money."

"Did you find the source?" Steve asked.

"Uh..." Tony glanced uneasily at Steve and Bucky. "You have to promise you're not going to freak out."

Bucky gave him a Look.

"Right." Tony put up a new set of visuals and started to talk. "Advanced Idea Mechanics, also known as AIM, also known as the ones who created the Mandarin. Aldrich Killian was their front man, but they were originally funded by-" Everyone's gaze focused squarely on the symbol that popped up.

"HYDRA?!" Bucky exploded, slamming his fist into the counter top, cracking the granite.

Steve had gone silent and furious in the face of this new development, pulling Diana tightly into his arms. "No," he said firmly. "Not going to happen. Sam, Rhodey, make sure that Lawrence is detained. Bring him back to the facility and put him in a blackout room. Stark, Natasha, find their base. Barton, check with Coulson, see if they've got anything on these guys. The rest of you, secure the facility. We're going into lock down. Now." He looked at Diana. "And you, are not going anywhere without at least two of us with you at all times."

"Steve-"

"No," he said firmly. "I am not over-reacting, and this is not negotiable."

She sighed. "All right. Fine. Let's say that HYDRA really is after me. But wouldn't they know that if they really did take me, or kill me, that you'd come after them?"

"They wouldn't kill you," Bucky said, his voice taking on a detached, clinical tone. "You're too valuable to them as leverage. If they had you, we would be forced to negotiate with them, at least as long as it took us to retrieve you. So whatever they want, it's from us."

"It's not going to take them long to figure out we're onto them," Steve reasoned, "especially if they were expecting Lawrence to report back." His eyes widened. "Or he's their inside man. We brought him inside to an interrogation room, crossing sensitive areas, showed him our weakness-"

"Showing the security systems," Tony said, catching on.

"Vision, check him for wires, transmitters, anything," Steve ordered. "Wanda, I need you to go with Vision, get into Lawrence's head. See if he knows anything."

The two of them left, Wanda's fingertips sparking with red energy.

Steve and Diana were the only ones left in the room. He turned to her. "Don't worry," he said. "Everything's going to be okay."

She raised an eyebrow. "If you say so."

Wanda and Vision came back thirty minutes later, grim faced. "Lawrence does not know anything," Vision reported. "All he knows is that he is supposed to rekindle his relationship with his daughter, in order to let HYDRA take her."

Steve frowned. "All right. Good job, you guys. Stay alert. Vision, patrol the perimeter with Pietro."

Diana stifled a yawn. "I'm going to bed, you guys."

Steve and Wanda followed her to her room.

"Are you really going to stay the whole time?" Diana asked doubtfully.

Steve turned slightly red. "I can get Natasha down here-"

"No it's fine." She grabbed her pajamas, went into the bathroom to change and brush her teeth, and crawled into bed. "Wanda, go put your pajamas on."

Wanda smirked and left the room.

Steve sat down on the comfy recliner in the corner.

"You gonna sit there all night?" Diana asked, opening the book by her bed and turning on her bedside lamp.

"Yes I am," he said, completely serious, his shoulders stiff with tension.

"I highly doubt that HYDRA would try and take me now that you're aware of the plan," Diana remarked.

"We're not taking any chances," Steve replied firmly, in his best 'Cap' voice. Softer, he added, "Not with you, sweetheart. Never with you."

She gave him a loving look and then switched her gaze to Wanda, who came in wearing her flannel pajamas. "Sleepover time," Diana said cheerfully, patting the bed next to her.

"What are you reading?" Wanda asked, curling up next to her.

"The House of Seven Gables," Diana replied, showing her the cover. "Nathaniel Hawthorne, one of the most boring writers ever. I read a page or two and I'm out in minutes."

Wanda read over Diana's shoulder for half a page, and yawned. "You're right. That's terribly boring."

"I thought he was a classic," Steve asked.

Diana raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, he's a classic, but his writing style is so wordy, all the good stuff gets buried." She yawned. "Hence the bedtime reading."

Steve smiled fondly. "So you'll read Ivanhoe, with a page and half description of a tree, but you don't like it in any other author?"

"But Ivanhoe is cool," Diana protested. "It's knights in shining armor and honor and-" she huffed. "You try reading The Scarlet Letter in high school and liking Nathaniel Hawthorne afterwards."

Steve smirked.

"I will throw this at you," Diana threatened, even though she was smiling.

"Wanda will save me," Steve retorted.

Wanda snickered. "I'm siding with Diana on this one, sorry, Cap."

Steve gave a mock gasp. "Betrayal."

Diana rolled her eyes and puled the blankets up to her chin. "All right superheroes, it's time for normal people to go to sleep. FRIDAY, lights five percent."

The lights dimmed to near darkness.

"Good night," Diana stage whispered after a moment.

"Sleep tight," Steve stage whispered back. "Don't let the bed bugs bite."

Wanda stifled a snicker.

Diana was quiet for a long time, then she whispered, "Do birds have taste buds?"

Steve raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Wanda reached out to smooth Diana's hair. "Sleep," she whispered.

In the darkness, Steve saw a red spark of energy jump from Wanda's fingers to Diana's temple.

"Cheater," Diana murmured, and fell asleep with a sigh.

"She's worried," Wanda told Steve quietly. "She wouldn't have gone to sleep for hours if I hadn't intervened."

"I know," Steve said, "thank you."

"She is also my soulmate," Wanda reminded him. "I would do anything for her."

He nodded, and smiled when Diana reached out to hug Wanda in her sleep. "She's a cuddler," he informed her.

Wanda grinned. "I noticed that."

When Diana woke up the next morning, she carefully shuffled off the bed so as not to disturb the slumbering Wanda, and tripped on a stray slipper. She fell right into Steve's strong arms. She blinked up at him. "Did you really stay up all night?" she asked groggily.

"No. Vision spelled me for a bit. I wanted to be here when you woke up."

"Sweet," Diana murmured, pressing a kiss to his cheek. She angled her head away as he tried to kiss her. "No kisses, morning breath," she muttered in explanation, shuffling towards the bathroom. "And coffee. Coffee's good. Coffee will wake me up, goodness Wanda, what'd you hit me with, I think it was a hammer or something'..." her rambling was cut off as she closed the door.

Steve couldn't help it. He started to laugh. He laughed so hard he woke Wanda up. "Why are you laughing?" she asked, rubbing her eyes sleepily and eyeing her fearless leader who was still chuckling.

Steve let out a happy sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. "It just makes me so happy to imagine spending the rest of my life with her." He stood up. "I'm going to run and get a coffee. Keep watch." He sprinted out the door.

When Diana emerged from the bathroom, Steve was waiting for her with a cup of coffee. "You beautiful man, you," she gushed, taking the coffee and sipping it carefully. She sighed. "Perfect. Thank you."

He smiled and took her hand. "Breakfast?"

"Sure." As they walked she asked, "So what's the stitch?"

"What?"

"Sorry, TV reference. Any updates since last night?"

Steve tensed again. "None so far. No one from HYDRA has tried to contact Lawrence, and we haven't located their base of operations yet."

"Oh."

"But we're getting there," Steve assured her.

She forced a smile. "I know."

The tense situation continued for another half a day, and then there was a call to assemble. "Report," Steve ordered.

"AIM has declared war on Stark Industries," Hill reported. "They've started attacking properties in Malibu, New York, and DC."

"Pepper!" Tony said, panicked.

"Ms Potts is in the air, on her way to Tokyo," FRIDAY reported instantly.

Tony turned to look at Cap.

"Go," Steve ordered. "We'll handle it."

Tony nodded briefly. "FRIDAY, flight plan to escort Pepper's plane," he ordered, as the suit began to build around him.

"This has to be a distraction," Bucky said.

"We can't let AIM trample these cities though," Rhodey protested.

"True," Steve said, slipping into Captain America mode. "Vision, War Machine, get to Malibu. Falcon, Pietro, Bucky, you'll go to DC. Black Widow, Wanda, and I will get to New York. Let's move out."

They scattered, Pietro whisking his sister away to suit up.

Steve turned to Diana. "We'll be back," he said, his expression torn. He knew he had to go, but his heart was screaming at him to stay with his soulmate.

"I'll be here," she promised, giving him a quick, worried smile. "Go get 'em."

He kissed her forehead before he sped away.

Hill glanced at Diana. "You wanna come to the control room?" she asked.

Diana shook her head. "I'll be in the library."

"All right." Hill designated two SHIELD agents. "This is your security detail. Don't give them the slip."

Diana grinned. "I'm not Tasha."

"Good."

Diana went to the library, pulled out one of her favorite Clive Cussler novels, and tried not to worry about her soulmates as they battled AIM/HYDRA in three different places. "Everything's going to be fine," she told herself quietly, trying to block out the sight of the agents standing guard. "Everything's going to be fine."

She managed to lose herself in the story of the ancient Mayan artifacts, and then she heard a soft whoosh. She looked up. One of the agents was on the ground, collapsed. "What-"

"Don't move, please, Miss Lawrence," the other SHIELD agent said, pointing a gun at her.

She stiffened. "What are you doing?"

"What do you think I'm doing?" he asked. "Abducting you, obviously. Stand up."

"You're not going to get away with this," she said, dropping the book on the floor haphazardly as she stood. She winced as the pages folded but left it alone.

"Oh, we'll get away with this," he said, motioning her forward. "We planned it all out."

"What did my father have to do with all this?"

"Nothing," the agent replied. "He was just the bait." He grinned. "And you're just the leverage, miss Lawrence, so don't imagine you'll be getting any special treatment."

"FRIDAY can see everything," Diana threatened.

"By the time the AI tracks your movements, we'll be well away from here." He forced her out one of the side doors and then hit her with the side of his gun.

She blacked out, and fell. Steve...

* * *

Not one of the Avengers noticed the tiny twinge of pain in their chests as they fought off AIM weapons.

* * *

 **A/N: Cliff hanger, sorry. Hopefully next chapter up within the next week.**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: The long-awaited Chap 16! Sorry for the wait and the lack of length, real life college is killing me. Here we have the rescue. Enjoy!**

The battle in New York finished quick enough, and the three Avengers let local law enforcement take custody of the HYDRA agents. Steve placed his hands on his knees, feeling strangely winded.

"You okay Cap?" Natasha asked.

"I don't know, I think I may have bruised a few ribs, my chest hurts-" He froze, and then quickly punched himself in the chest.

"Are you trying to puncture your lung?" Wanda scolded.

Steve was now white as a sheet. "It didn't hurt," he said, his voice tight. "The pain's not coming from me."

Wanda's face paled. "Diana."

Natasha only pressed her lips together tightly.

Steve tapped his comm. "Hill, report on Diana."

"She's in the library."

"I need visual confirmation, now," Steve ordered.

Hill was silent for a moment and then, "She's gone. I don't know how it happened, we're in lockdown, no one in our out-"

"Well _check_ ," Steve pressed, sick at heart. "Avengers, listen up. Diana's disappeared."

The channel exploded in chatter. Stark's voice rose about the rest. "FRIDAY, activate Soul Tracker."

"Activating, sir."

"Stark, what are you doing?" Clint asked.

"You put trackers on her didn't you?" Natasha asked at the same time.

"Of course. There's at least two on her right now, as long as she's got shoes on and a pair of jeans. FRIDAY?"

"The signal from the trackers appears to be blocked, sir."

Hill reported back at the same time. "Diana and another SHIELD agent left the facility two hours ago in a civilian car reported stolen yesterday. I've traced the car to a parking lot - it's empty. Sending SHIELD agents now to pick up their trail. I'll send you the address."

"CCTV?"

"It was erased." Hill sounded distressed. "We've got nothing."

"Unacceptable," Steve said flatly.

"Well that's all we've got, cap. I'm working on tracing our agent, but FRIDAY's got some sort of bug in her, our files are slow."

"On it," Tony said. "Rhodey, trade me places. I want Pepper covered 24/7 just in case."

"Same with all civilians associated with us," Steve ordered. "Clint, go home."

"On it." He gave them a worried look and was gone.

Diana awoke slowly and painfully, her head throbbing. She tried to scrub at her eyes with her hand, but both hands were tied behind her back. She levered herself to a sitting position on the edge of the cot and took stock of her surroundings. Four grey walls, a cot, and a metal door. No vents, no cupboards, nothing. A definite abductee cell, and no aspirin in sigh. Great.

She contemplated going back to sleep but now that she realized she was at the mercy of HYDRA she could feel her terror rising. _Don't panic_ , she told herself firmly. Not only would that dull her senses it would freak out all her soulmates, and panicking Avengers was the last thing they needed.

Her heart ached for them all. Were they all right? Had the battles gone well? Did they know she was missing? She forced herself to take a deep breath. _Don't panic_ , she reminded herself.

Several hours passed in her tiny prison. She'd managed to loosen the ropes around her hands and slip out but the door was still closed. She'd resorted to singing anything and everything to keep from being scared. It was not working.

The locks on the door clicked open and she tensed. Two HYDRA agents came in - one with a tray of food and one with a gun. "Eat," the one said, handing her the tray.

"What do you want?" she asked.

They ignored her and locked the door as they left.

She looked at the food. Chinese takeout. Hopefully the only poison in it was MSG. Slowly she ate it and stuck the fork in her ankle boot. Who knows if it'd come in handy.

Apparently, they knew. The two guards came back as soon as she'd finished eating. The one took the tray from her and pulled the fork from her boot. "Clever," he smirked, and retied her hands. "Let's go."

Diana was frog-marched down the hall and through a maze of rooms, each step harder, each movement more sluggish. "You drugg' me," she slurred, feeling the world spin and tilt like a carnival ride.

"Just a little something to make you compliant," they told her, and the one without the gun half-dragged her the last few turns and placed her in a chair. "Smile for the cameras."

She blinked owlishly and then realized there was a video camera. She frowned at the lens.

"Avengers," an imposing voice boomed, "we have your soulmate Diana Lawrence. If you ever wish to see her again, you will surrender the Winter Soldier to us. A simple trade, the girl for the soldier. If not..." the voice trailed off meaningfully as a hooded agent stepped behind Diana and placed a knife blade to her throat.

She could even move, couldn't even think fast enough, could only feel the cool metal of the knife and a vague inclination of panic.

The camera shut off and she was dragged back to her cell to let the drug wear off. The girl for the soldier. The girl for the soldier. Trade the soulmate for the Winter Soldier.

She gasped, the connection finally clicking. _Bucky!_ She tried to fight her way off the cot, but she lost the strength in her arms and fell unconscious.

All the Avengers felt that lance of sheer panic and Steve nearly jumped out of his own skin in aggravation. "We _need_ to find her-" he started, seriously thinking of tearing down the city till he found her. He wondered if they could get a hold of Bruce to help with that.

"Captain Rogers, a file has just been received from an anon source," FRIDAY reported.

"Display," he ordered.

A video file popped up of a slouching Diana in a chair. They all let out a shout. "FRIDAY, trace!" Tony shouted.

"Avengers," an anonymous voice began, "we have your soulmate Diana Lawrence. If you ever wish to see her again, you will surrender the Winter Soldier to us. A simple trade, the girl for the soldier. If not..." the voice trailed off meaningfully as a hooded agent stepped behind Diana and placed a knife blade to her throat.

Natasha growled lowly at the sight of the blade, and they all tensed as the video went blank, and erased itself from the servers.

Bucky looked stricken. "This is all my fault. They wouldn't have taken her if not for me- I knew it was too easy."

Steve placed a steadying hand on his shoulder. "Steady," he muttered. "Now we have something to work with. FRIDAY, traced the location yet?"

"The video erased itself, however, I managed to file a copy. Working, cap."

"Allow me," Vision said, closing his eyes. They could almost see the connections whirring.

"I'll go," Bucky said, breaking the silence. He looked pale but determined. "They'll let her go. She'll be safe."

"Don't be an idiot," Steve told him firmly. "We are not giving up on her, or you. They are not getting their hands on you again."

"Stevie-"

"Bucky, no." Steve gripped his brother-soulmate's arms tightly. "I am not losing you, not again."

"But Diana-" Bucky protested.

"You know as well as I do they'd never let her go. They'd probably make you kill her in a heartbeat. I am not losing either of you, so don't even think of doing something stupid, okay?"

Bucky was still tense. "Then how are we going to get her back?"

" I've found it," Vision declared, pulling up the location on-screen. "I believe it is virtually impenetrable."

As they studied it, they could all feel their hearts sinking. It did seem to be virtually impossible to get into-a small fortress dug into the peak of a mountain in the Catskills, and heavily guarded to boot.

"How are we going to get in there?" Pietro asked.

They were all silent. For all their intellect and strategy, there literally was only one way in, but no one wanted to admit it, especially not to Steve. Finally, Tony spoke up. "Come on Cap, even you know there's only one course of action."

He didn't reply, still busy calculating. He glanced at Wanda, then Vision, then Tony. "Virtually impenetrable," he said, "from the outside. But not from the inside out."

"Elaborate," Tony prompted.

"What if we ceded to their demands, gave them the Winter Soldier?"

"Oh, thanks," Bucky said wryly.

" _But_ ," Steve continued over his protest, "with mental blocks in place to prevent him from being brainwashed again, only giving the appearance of it? Knowing HYDRA, they'd probably make the Winter Soldier dispose of her. All he'd have to do is claim to take her into the forest to meet with an accident, leaving the defenses of the base down on his way out, and we strike."

"I like it," Tony said.

"Me too," Bucky added, relishing the prospect of tricking his former captors at their own game.

"Wanda can you do it?" Steve asked.

She nodded, her eyes glowing faintly red with determination. "Yes."

"All right then. Let's get to work."

Wanda and Vision took off with Bucky to a quiet corner, and Tony took Bucky's arm to a workshop. He put trackers in it and went through the programming of the arm itself. It had sensor recognition systems - he altered them to recognize all the Avengers and Diana and added a subroutine to make sure that Bucky, or at least his arm, could not be used to harm them.

Meanwhile Wanda and Vision were working with Bucky, putting mental subroutines in his subconscious, shielding his personality, his memories, his emotions, and as much of his self that they could. "We will not let them take you away from us," Wanda said comfortingly.

Bucky gave her a grin that didn't seem very convincing. "I know."

After a few hours, they were done. The gear was double checked, the trackers were double checked, Clint came back since his family was not under threat, and everyone suited up. "Let's go get our girl," Steve said firmly.

Bucky approached the HYDRA fortress alone. He was caught, "captured", and brought to the commanding officer. "So, the prodigal son returns," the HYDRA general smirked.

Bucky glared at him. "I came to trade my life for the Avengers' soulmate. Where is she?"

"Oh, she's here," the general said idly. "But we're not giving her back. We lied." He nodded to the guards. "Take him away, wipe him."

Bucky let himself be dragged away, and prayed silently that Wanda and Vision's mental programming would hold. He was forced into the chamber, and resisted the urge to kill everyone in the compound. Then he was knocked out.

Diana was woken by a sharp slap on the cheek. She jolted awake, her limbs still rubbery but able to hold her. "Wha-"

They grabbed her by the arms and dragged her out to a control room. "Diana Lawrence," the HYDRA general said, nodding to her politely. "I don't believe you've had the pleasure of meeting The Winter Soldier."

"What-" She stared in disbelief as Bucky stepped out of the shadows dressed in black, his eyes completely blank. Her heart sank. "No... Bucky, _no_..." She reached out for him, but the guards held her back. "What did you do!" she yelled, furious.

"You can see for yourself. Bucky Barnes is gone. Don't worry, you'll be joining him." The general looked at the Winter Soldier and pointed at Diana. "Kill her."

"Sir," the Winter Soldier acknowledged sharply. He tilted his head, analyzing his target, the tears she was shedding. "It will be better to kill her in the forest, make it look like an accident." He gave a slight, blank smile. "There are many ravines in this part of the wood."

"Excellent idea," the general said. "I believe your time away has actually increased your usefulness. Take her."

Diana's eyes filled with tears and they spilled onto her cheeks. "No," she protested softly, as Bucky grabbed her arm firmly. "No, Bucky, listen to me, I know you're in there. You can't let them win, Bucky, please-"

"Silence," he snapped, jerking her to the side and pulling her arm nearly out of its socket.

She bit her lip, trying not to cry as he marched her out of the fortress into the depth of the woods. To die, like this... if he ever remembered what he'd done, he would never forgive himself. "Bucky, whatever you do, don't remember this," she begged, as he forced her to kneel at the base of a large tree. She grabbed at his metal arm, wrapping both hands around his forearm. "Bucky, please, please don't." She rested her forehead against his knuckles and closed her eyes, trying to reach out to him through their soulmate bond.

The Winter Soldier stared down at the young crying woman in awe. He remembered her... she was important to him. He tensed his metal arm in preparation to carry out his assignment, but suddenly his metal arm froze and went limp. Tony's programming was working.

She stared at him hopefully. "Bucky?"

He continued to stare at her. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"Diana Lawrence. I'm your soulmate, one of your best friends, your sister. You know me. You're Bucky Barnes. Your other soulmate is Steve, Steve Rogers." She showed him the soul mark on her skin. "You know me. Look."

"You're getting married," he remembered.

"Yes I am," she said, her hope rising, "Steve and I are getting married soon. You helped him propose, remember?"

"He was a wimp," he remembered, and like a flood breaking through, his memories rushed back, saved by Wanda's mental shielding. He dropped the gun in his other hand, shocked. "Diana! Doll! We did it!" He scooped her up in his arms and hugged her tightly.

"Bucky?" she asked, now completely confused.

"Yeah, it's me." He kissed her forehead. "This was all part of the plan." He pressed a joint in his arm, activating the comm. "Cap, Cap come in."

"Do you have her?" Steve's voice asked anxiously.

"Hi," Diana said, leaning into the mic.

The sigh of relief from all the Avengers was audible over the tiny speaker. "We're on our way to your position," Cap reported. "Barnes, did finish the plan?"

Bucky remembered his metal arm's autonomous functions, and nodded. "Yes. My arm disabled the alarm systems."

"Good. Moving in."

Before a minute had passed, Quicksilver and Cap were coming out of the trees towards them. "Diana!" Cap swept her up in his arms and kissed her desperately. He looked her over for bruises and touched a red mark on her cheek. His eyes darkened. "Go with Pietro. He and Natasha are getting you out of here."

She nodded. "Be safe."

He gave her a quick salute. "Yes ma'am." And he and Bucky sprinted away.

Pietro grabbed Diana in a bridal hold and zipped away in the opposite direction. Natasha was waiting for them on a cloaked quin-jet, and as soon as they were onboard, they were headed out.

"Where are we going?" Diana asked, strapping herself into a seat.

"We're following Bruce's lead and dropping off the face of the map," Natasha replied. "How does the Polynesian islands sound?"

Diana smiled wryly. "Sounds fun." She slumped against the seat, suddenly exhausted. "I think I'm still drugged."

Natasha put the jet on autopilot and came back to run a check on her. "You've got a low fever, you're dehydrated, and your blood sugar is in the basement. And whatever they gave you to keep you compliant is still running its course." She smoothed her fingers through Diana's hair. "Just rest. Pietro?"

Pietro sat next to Diana and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Pillow duty, check," he said, smirking.

Natasha returned to the cockpit and tapped her comm. "How's it going?" she asked.

There was the sound of a muffle grunt and a clang. "Oh, we're fine," Iron Man said. "Almost done." There was a thud. "How's Diana?"

"About to fall asleep."

"Good." Another thud, and a satisfying crunch. "Gotta go."

Safe in the care of her soulmates, Diana fell asleep and didn't once wake up during the flight to one of the hundreds of Polynesian islands, the landing of the jet, and Pietro carrying her inside the safe house. She even slept through the noise of the other Avengers' return.

In fact, the only reason she woke up six hours later was the sound of a muffled clang from somewhere in the house, a muffled yelp, and a hollered, "Nothing broke!"

 _That was Clint_ , Diana registered with a sleepy giggle. She opened her eyes and found Vision facing the window, standing guard. He turned when she laughed.

"Good morning," he said, scanning her for injuries.

"Morning Vision. Everyone okay?"

"Relatively unharmed except for minor contusions," he reported.

"Good. And the base?"

"Gone." He refrained from telling her the Catskills now had a sizeable crater. "How do you feel?"

"Starving." She got out of bed, her arms still sore from being tied up and dragged around. "And, I need hugs desperately."

Vision gladly gave her a hug, and walked with her to the kitchen, where Clint was cracking eggs into a mixing bowl.

"Hey," he said cheerfully, dropping the eggs to give her a careful hug and a kiss on the cheek. "You ok?"

"Yep." She watched him make the scrambled eggs and asked, "So, what now?"

"Now, we prevent it from ever happening again," Clint said firmly. "As soon as we get back to base, Nat and I will be training you in self-defense, use of weapons, and extraction strategies."

"Aw, Clint-"

"No. At this moment you are the most valuable asset the Avengers have. You're a high risk target, and the entire world is aware of it. We are not letting you get kidnapped ever again. None of us would be able to stand it. So, that means you have to be able to fight."

She sighed. "All right, all right."

"Good." He pointed to the hallway with the spatula. "Go get everybody, eggs are getting cold."

She hopped off the stool and went into the hallway. "Food!" she called, knocking on all the doors. Various groans and mumbles greeted her announcement, and she smiled at the wonderful normal ness of it all.

Steve opened the door and caught her hand just as she was about to knock. "Good morning," he said, giving her a sleepy grin.

"Good morning," she said, smiling at the sight of the super soldier's hair sticking up in all directions. "I'm assuming you slept well?"

"How could you tell?"

She reached up to ruffle his hair and press a kiss to his cheek. "I don't know, just guessing," she said, nonchalantly drawing back. "Come on, food's ready."

He wrapped an arm around her waist as they walked down the hall. "You okay?" he murmured into her hair.

She stopped to look at him. "I'm fine, Steve."

"You were just kidnapped and almost killed," he said, his tone flat.

"And you saved me," she reminded him. "I really am okay right now." She put her hands on his shoulders. "When I'm not, I'll let you know, all right?"

He pulled her into a hug, and she felt him nod against her shoulder. "All right."

"Hey, lovebirds, food," Bucky interrupted, flicking a piece of toast at his best friend.

Steve caught it instinctively and flicked it back at Bucky, hitting him in the forehead. "Ha."

"Punk."

"That's what you get for being a jerk."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, you're both wonderful, come on." She dragged them both into the kitchen.

Diana, Steve, Pietro, and Bucky stayed in the safe house for another couple of days while the rest of the Avengers performed an intensive in-house sweep of the agents attached to the Avengers. Two more were found to be HYDRA spies. Tony, Vision, Natasha, and FRIDAY promptly changed all the codes, encryption keys, locks, scanners, sensors, and anything else HYDRA agents could've corrupted.

On the third day of their retreat, Natasha texted Steve. "It's safe. Bring her home."

Steve texted her a picture of Diana laying on a towel in the sand, blissfully happy with a book in her lap. "As soon as she finishes her book," he replied. "Everything ready?"

Natasha sent back a simple "Yup."


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Finally, the wedding. Yay! Shameless fluff, I do not apologize. *does a happy dance***

"Home sweet home," Diana said, smiling, as the quin jet's ramp lowered and they walked into the hangar. She was immediately caught in a hug by Pepper. "Pepper! What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see you all, and I have business on this coast." She looked at Diana seriously. "How do you feel?"

"I got a tan," Diana said, smiling.

Both Pepper and Steve noticed that she avoided the question. Pepper only smiled and redirected the topic to the Avengers' PR department.

That evening Steve found Diana on the terrace. She was with Clint and Tasha, talking about little Nathaniel. "Diana? Can I talk to you a minute?" Steve asked.

Diana stood up immediately. "Sure." She walked with him to the other side of the terrace. "What's wrong? Is it Bucky? Is he okay?"

"He's fine," Steve reassured her, "he's talking to Sam. He'll be okay."

"Okay..." She raised an eyebrow. "Are _you_ okay?"

Steve smiled and took her hands. "Everyone's okay, I promise." He lifted her hands and kissed them. "I just wanted to ask you something."

"All right."

He held her hands gently. "Will you marry me?"

Diana smiled crookedly. "You already asked me that, Steve. And, for your information, I already said yes."

"I know." He stepped closer and placed his hands on her waist. "But I meant, will you marry me tomorrow?"

"Tomorrow?" Diana echoed, shocked. She was suddenly glad for his supportive hands on her waist. "But, what, why-"

"Because I don't want to waste any more time," Steve said, his eyes dark and serious. "I love you, and you love me. We're soulmates but that doesn't mean we have forever."

"I know, Steve," she said, dropping her gaze, her skin crawling as she remembered the feel of the knife on her throat.

"When you disappeared, it scared me," Steve said gently. "I've never been that scared in my entire life, and I realized I don't want to lose a second of the time we have together."

"Neither do I," she replied, still unable to look at him. "Every time you go on a mission, every time you jump off a building or storm a fortress or land on your head-" she smacked him lightly upside the head, "Bucky told me about that one, by the way, you're in trouble," She looked up at him. "Yes."

"What?" he asked, confused from the smack.

"Yes, I will marry you tomorrow."

He smiled and bent his head to kiss her. "I love you," he whispered into her ear, once they'd broken apart.

She smiled up at him. "I love you too." She pressed a kiss to his jaw. "I'm assuming you have a plan or something?"

"That's me, man with a plan," Steve affirmed, and then nodded to Clint and Natasha, who were trying their hardest not to look like they were eavesdropping. "Tasha helped me."

"Of course," Diana said, grinning. She took his hand and walked over to the super spies. "All right, you both know the game, what's the plan?"

"Your mom's coming up from the city tomorrow morning, and Clint's gonna bring his family up tonight," Natasha started. "Director Coulson's been invited to perform the ceremony, he almost fainted from excitement, so he'll be here. We've got a few options for your dress, and Steve's got a suit. All that's left is to pick your wedding party, and we're good." Natasha gave her an apologetic look. "Because everything's classified and we're having it here, it's going to be really small and informal."

"That's actually perfect," Diana said, hugging her. "And, will you be my maid of honor?"

"Me?"

"Of course." Diana hugged her again. "You've planned this whole thing out and you're my closest friend. You're the only one I'd choose."

"I'd be honored," Natasha replied, a bit choked up.

"Good. And I want to ask Pepper and Wanda, obviously, so..." She looked at Steve. "You can pick three of the guys."

"Not me," Clint said immediately, holding up his hands in surrender, "I'll have my hands full with Tasha's namesake."

"Traitorous namesake," Tasha corrected, smirking.

Steve nodded. "I'll go do that, then." He kissed Diana quickly and went back inside.

"So, dresses?" Diana asked.

Steve found Bucky first, working out in one of the training rooms. "Well, punk?" Bucky asked, grinning.

"She said yes," Steve replied, grinning. "Will you be my best man, Buck?"

"Well yeah. Who else is gonna hold you up when you faint at the altar?" Bucky asked, smirking.

"Thanks." Steve nodded, and then looked at him sideways. "That means you're walking in with Tasha. You'll make a nice couple."

Bucky's face started to turn red. "Shut up, Stevie."

"Not a chance. You should ask her out."

"She'd kill me."

"Maybe. Maybe not."

"Just cuz you and Diana are going to live happily ever after doesn't mean the rest of us have that inclination."

"Uh-huh. And pigs have wings." Steve clapped him on the shoulder. "Anyways, go find a suit." He left Bucky in the gym and went into one of the computer labs, where Tony was running a tracking program. "What are you doing?"

"Trying to find Bruce," Tony replied, staring at the screen, "I want to see if I can get him back here for your wedding."

"That'd be nice," Steve said, nodding. "Tony?"

"What's up Cap?"

"Will you be part of the wedding tomorrow?"

"Ring bearer?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow. "We could put a bow tie on DUMMY, very stylish."

"No, I mean, one of the groomsmen."

"Really?" Tony asked, honestly surprised. "I didn't think- yeah. Yeah, that'd be great."

Steve nodded. "Good. And, I know you have a million suits, so, just pick one."

"The Mark 48 would do nicely, I think," Tony deadpanned.

"Stark."

"Just kidding, just kidding. Lighten up, Steve, you're getting married tomorrow." Tony grinned. "Diana couldn't have picked a better soulmate." He waved a hand. "Now go on. I need to finish this."

Steve nodded, and went to ask Sam. Needless to say, Sam agreed, and flippantly offered free couples' counseling if they ever had any problems.

That night Steve was doing pushups in his room, too full of nervous energy and excitement to sleep. Tomorrow he was going to be married to his soulmate. He felt like pinching himself. After all those years of illness in his youth, danger in the army, and marvels with the Avengers, he was finally fulfilling his destiny. The black soulmark on his skin hummed with anticipation.

And then he felt it, around pushup 224, a twinge of anxiety in his chest. He knew it could only be from Diana. "FRIDAY, where's Diana?" he asked, hopping up from the floor.

"Miss Lawrence is in her room, asleep," FRIDAY reported. "She appears to be in distress, captain."

Steve ran out of the door like a shot and punched in the overrride to Diana's door. He entered cautiously to find her asleep, thrashing under the covers. "Diana?" He bent over and touched her face gently. "Diana?"

She let out a yell and jerked awake, screaming incoherently. "Steve," she choked out brokenly, and threw herself into his arms, sobbing.

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay doll, I'm right here," he soothed, his heart breaking for her. He tugged her against his chest gently and stroked her hair. "It's all right, you're safe, everyone's okay, shhh, it's okay." He didn't know what else to do, how to make her feel better, so he just let her cry into his shirt, until finally she calmed.

She sniffed a couple of times and burrowed her face into his shoulder with a sigh. "Sorry," she whispered. "It was a really bad nightmare."

He pressed a kiss to her hair and tucked her more closely against his chest. "You have absolutely nothing to apologize for," he told her gently. "You know better than anyone that none of us can control our dreams. You're always there for me, so let me be here for you, okay?"

A silent nod.

He kissed her hair again. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"It'll make you feel better."

Another couple of tears rolled down her face and splished onto his T-shirt. "No it won't. It was awful Steve, I don't even want to remember it." Her fingers twisted in his shirt, holding onto him tightly. "I was there, and you came to rescue me, and he, he killed you all-" She let out another sob. "I watched you all die, and it was all my fault..."

"No, no, hey, shh, come on doll," Steve said, rubbing her back gently. "We're all okay. It wasn't real, everyone's okay. You're okay. Just relax."

She let out a shuddering sigh. "Steve?"

"Hm?"

"You should probably leave now."

"Why?" he asked, worried.

"I probably look really ugly right now, from all the crying."

He hid a grin and leaned back to see her face. "Diana, please."

"No really, I'm an ugly crier," she insisted, hiding her face. "Go away, you don't want to see me like thi-" she was cut off by a firm kiss, and melted into his arms.

"You are beautiful," Steve admonished gently, pulling away to smile at her. "Kay?"

She nodded, dazed.

"Good." He kissed her forehead. "Are you okay to go to sleep or do you want me to go find Natasha or Wanda to keep you company?"

She shook her head. "I think I'll be okay. I'm just going to wash my face and go to sleep. I don't want to show up with swollen eyes. That would be kind of bad."

"Kind of," he agreed, caressing her face lightly. "But, I don't care if you show up in your pajamas as long as you're there."

She kissed him lightly. "I love you."

"I love you too." He stood up and gave her a formal bow. "Good night, Ms. Lawrence."

She smiled. "Only one more day and I won't be Ms. Lawrence anymore."

"Mrs. Rogers," Steve murmured. "I like the sound of that." He drew her close for a final kiss, and rested his forehead against hers. "Tomorrow," he whispered.

"Tomorrow," she replied, smiling at him softly.

The next morning bright and early Mrs. Lawrence arrived, followed by the Barton family, and then Director Coulson and a few from his team. Fitz Simmons, Mae, and Daisy Johnson were pleased as punch to be at the New Avengers facility for the wedding, and Pietro was pleased as punch to flirt with both Simmons and Daisy relentlessly until Wanda zapped him with her powers from across the complex. He eased off then, and settled for smirking.

Diana was woken up at 0800 by a grinning Natasha. "Up, up, up, today's the day!" Natasha said cheerfully.

Diana groaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Five more minutes."

"Nope," Natasha replied, pulling the covers away from her with easy efficiency. "This is your wedding day, dearest, and we're on a schedule."

Diana's face lit up with a brilliant smile and she stared up at the ceiling dreamily. "Today's the day."

"Yes it is."

Diana rolled out of bed and headed to the bathroom. "All right. Give me five minutes and you can work your magic."

Natasha paced impatiently for three minutes and opened the door for Wanda and Pepper who came bearing breakfast. When Diana came out of the bathroom she raised an eyebrow. "I really hope there's coffee in there somewhere."

They had breakfast and started getting ready. Natasha pulled out all the tools of her trade and began to apply makeup. "FRIDAY, tell Clint to get in here," she ordered calmly.

"Yes Ms. Romanoff."

A knock on the door sounded a minute later. "Someone called for backup?" Clint asked, sticking his head in. "I hope you're all decent cuz I'm coming in." He came in and picked up the curling wand. "Right, who's first?"

Wanda eyed him suspiciously. "Can I trust you with that thing?"

"Oh please," Clint said, "I've been helping Natasha prep for missions for years. I was a makeup artist in the circus for years before that."

"Just as long as I don't look like a clown," Wanda said doubtfully.

Clint grinned. "Watch and learn, kiddo." He tested the heat of the wand and began to curl her hair, whistling tunelessly under his breath.

Diana grinned. "We should hire you out for parties. Hawkeye, the famous Avenger, moonlighting as makeup artist extraordinaire."

"Sounds good to me," Clint replied, "a nice side gig when there's no cities to save. We can always use extra cash. My kids are growing faster'n weeds."

"Where are they anyway?" Natasha asked.

"Cooper and Nate are still asleep. Laura's getting 'em ready one at a time. When Lila's ready she wants to join you girls. Is that okay, Diana?"

"Yeah it's fine." She smiled. "Is she excited?"

"Of course. Auntie Di's getting hitched. Although you know she's had a crush on Captain America for years right?"

" _Everybody_ 's had a crush on Captain America for years," Tony said, waltzing in without knocking.

"No one more than you," Diana deadpanned, smirking at him.

"Oh by the way, Barton, I think this belongs to you," Tony said, gesturing Lila into the room. "The missus sent her along."

"Hey sweet pea, good morning," Clint said, kissing her head.

"Not my hair daddy," she pouted, smoothing the top of her French braid. She sat primply on the edge of the bed, watching Natasha do Diana's makeup.

"Why are you here, Tony?" Pepper asked, handing him a muffin.

"Uh, Steve is freaking out and wanted to make sure everythings okay, that our lovely bride isn't running away. That kind of thing." He took a bite out of the muffin.

Diana smirked. "You can tell him everyone's fine and to stop being a worry wart. Those words exactly, please."

"Worry wart, copy that." He kissed Pepper on the cheek, careful not to touch her lipstick. "See you in a bit, ladies." He swaggered out again.

It was eleven thirty and everyone was ready. Steve, in a black suit with a dark blue tie, was waiting at the front of the hall with Coulson. The small audience was waiting excitedly.

The groomsmen escorted their bridesmais to the door of the hall, and let Mrs. Lawrence make a final inspection. "Perfect, all of you," Mrs. Lawrence declared, and turned to her daughter. She grew teary eyed. "You are so beautiful."

Diana smiled tearily at her. "Don't get mushy, my makeup's gonna run."

"No it won't," Natasha interjected, "it's all waterproof. Trust me, I've tested it."

"Is that the same kind you still had on after we swam the English Channel?" Bucky asked.

"The very same."

Their little byplay broke the teary mood and Mrs. Lawrence patted Diana on the cheek. "All right, I'm going to go sit down. Don't keep your soulmate waiting dear."

Before Diana could reply, there was a burst of light from outside and Thor came in, his cape swirling around him majestically. "Am I late?" he asked, dropping Mjolnir on the floor lightly. He was dressed in regal tunic and trousers, not his usual armor.

"Just in time," Tony assured him.

Thor sighed in relief. "I would not miss my soulmate's wedding day." He smiled at Diana. "You are lovely. Steven will be very proud."

"Thank you." She smiled ath im. "As a matter of fact, I was just needing someone to walk with me down the aisle. Would you?"

"I would be honored to escort you." He offered his arm to her.

"All right," Diana said, "now we can go."

"FRIDAY?" Natasha prompted.

The music started, and Wanda and Sam headed out. Pepper and Tony went out next, and Bucky and Natasha followed. Diana stepped out next. Everyone gasped in surprise when they saw Thor, except for Steve. He was completely focused on his bride as she walked towards him, a shy smile on her face.

She was a vision resplendent in white, the hem of her dress just brushing the toes of her silver heels. The dress was simple in its design, with cap sleeves and a fitted waist, a silver lace overlay giving it a shimmery look. Her hair was left down and slightly curled, a silver clip keeping the hair out of her face.

Steve watched in a daze as she walked towards him, and when Thor handed her off, he reached out for her wonderingly. He took her hand gently, and they turned to face Coulson.

Coulson was, predictably, beaming. "We are gathered here today," he started.

Neither Steve nor Diana heard a word of his brief speech as they gazed at each other. They recited their vows in a world of their own, and barely noticed Bucky and Natasha passing them the rings. Diana's was a simple gold ring that supplemented her diamond ring. Steve's was an equally simple ring but it was made of vibranium, the last shards that Howard Stark had in his posession. Tony hadn't had a reason to use them until Diana asked him to make the ring the day before.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Coulson announced, and added, "You may kiss the bride."

Steve stepped forward and cupped Diana's cheek gently. He tilted his head forward to meet her lips, and kissed her. He kept it short and sweet, mindful of their audience. "Mrs. Rogers," he whispered lovingly, and they turend to look at their friends and family as Coulson fangirled silently behind them.

They walked down the aisle arm in arm, and after hugs and kisses from their soulmates, Pepper herded them all to the photo shoot in the garden. Everyone posed obligingly, and the photographer got a few good candid shots of people goofing off in between groupings and poses.

After that, it was back inside to the mess hall, which thanks to SHIELD lackeys was decorated and ready to go.

The wedding party were all seated at a long table in the front of the hall, and after finishing the main meal, Bucky stood up to make his best man speech. "I'm not one for inspiring speeches," he started, "that's more Steve's thing, but since it's about him, I'm gonna give it my best shot." He turned to Steve and gave him a grin. "You've been waiting seventy five years for this day, and to tell the truth so have I. Finally there's someone else to tell you when you're being stupid, and I can get a life of my own."

"Jerk," Steve muttered, grinning as the rest of the Avengers jeered good-naturedly.

Bucky clapped him on the shoulder. "Punk. You survived a lot to get here, and just for this day, it was worth it. All of it was worth it. I could not be happier to see both my soulmates get their happily ever after." He held up his glass. "To Steve and Diana."

Everyone clapped, and Steve hugged him tightly, prompting an 'aww' from a few of the women.

"All right, all right, enough speeches," Tony said, drawing the attention away from the emotional group at the front. "Who's ready to party?"

Diana shot him a thankful look, and he winked at her before taking over the DJ stand. "First, our newlyweds take the floor," Tony said. "Steve, Diana, your song?"

Steve escorted her to the middle of hte floor and she put her arms around his neck. "You know what song it's going to be?" she asked quietly.

Steve shook his head. "Natasha picked it." He placed his hands at her waist.

"Knowing Tony it's gonna start out ACDC," she muttered, hoping it wasn't.

Tony behaved himself, and the slow tunes of 'When I Fall In Love,' by Nat King Cole filtered from the speakers.

"I can dance this," Steve said, relaxing slightly.

She smiled up at him. "Good, because in this dress I'm really going to have to follow your lead."

"Have I told you how beauitful you look?" he asked.

"Not in the last five minutes, no."

"You're beautiful."

She blushed under his intense gaze, and they circled the dance floor in content silence, ending it with a heartfelt kiss.

The next dance more couples joined in, and the party kicked into full gear. Diana danced with all her soulmates, and then the rest of the time danced with Steve.

Natasha kept a close eye on the clock, and as soon as it hit four thirty she announced that it was time for Steve and Diana to head out on their honeymoon. "Where are we going, anyway?" Diana asked, as Natasha ushered them out.

"A safehouse we set up in Canada," Natasha replied, giving them a smile. "Nobody but the two of you for miles around. No crises, no bad guys, nothing but birds and frogs, the ocassional moose. You'll love it." She gave Diana a hug and kissed Steve on the cheek. "Go on, the car's already got the location on GPS, bags are packed. See you in two weeks."

Suffice to say, the newlyweds did enjoy their honeymoon very much, and gave serious consideration to staying there forever. But, eventually they admitted that yes, civilization was important, and so were their jobs as superhero and superhero-soulmate-and-sanity-keeper, respectively.

They were welcomed back with hugs and grins, and presented with a newly redecorated apartment in the housing facility. It had its own kitchen, living room, study, bathroom, and bedroom area, and even its own small balcony. Natasha and Pepper had decorated it, and everyone else helped move Steve and Diana's things into the new apartment. Wanda became specially proficient at manipulating and moving several objects at a time, placing knick-knacks on shelves.

Steve stopped Diana just outside the door. "Wait."

"What?"

He picked her up in a bridal hold. "Just this." He stepped into the living room and placed her on her feet. "Welcome home, Mrs. Rogers," he said proudly, and bent to kiss her.

She returned it eagerly, and they only broke apart when Bucky wolf whistled. She stepped away from Steve, blushing. "So, study's over here?" she asked, escaping into the apartment. "Yay my books!" was heard after a second.

Bucky grinned and looked at Steve. "Happy?" he asked.

"Very."

"Good." Bucky clapped him on the shoulder. "On behalf of Clint and Nat, tell her training starts tomorrow. See you tomorrow, newlyweds."

Diana was woken up at seven in the morning with a kiss on the cheek. "Mm?" she asked sleepily. "Mission?"

"Nope." Steve pressed another kiss to her face. "You're expected in the gym in twenty minutes."

"Nooooo..." she groaned, bringing up her hands to cover her eyes.

He caught her hands easily and kissed her fingers. "Yeeeeesss," he said teasingly. "You realize everyone's been up for an hour, right?"

"But you guys are _weird_ ," she said, wriggling away from him.

He wrapped an arm around her waist. "Come on, doll, you know this is important."

"I'd rather get kidnapped again," she grumbled.

He dropped his head to rest on her shoulder. "No you wouldn't."

"No I wouldn't," she agreed, smoothing his hair gently. She sighed. "Fine, fine, I'm up."

He pulled her to a sitting position and handed her a mug. "Good. I brought you coffee."

She took a deep sip. "You should've started with the coffee," she chastised him gently.

He smirked. "I noticed."

"Well, I suppose kiss first, then coffee, _then_ logical reasoning as to why I should get up at such an ungodly hour." She leaned against his broad chest and closed her eyes as she sipped her coffee.

"Diana."

"Hm."

"Fifteen minutes."

She groaned. "I don't like you."

"But I love you," he said, giving her a mock pout.

"Oh, I love you too, I just don't like you," she retorted teasingly. She pressed a kiss to his face. "Don't pout dear, I'll swoon and then where will we be?"

She managed to get to the gym on time, and found Natasha and Clint sparring. "You're actually up," Natasha said, surprised.

"It's Steve's fault," Diana said, yawning.

"Good. Come here."

She stood there while they analyzed her silently. "So?" she asked, after they shared a glance. "What's first? Systematic destruction of my lazy butt followed by Iron Man training?"

Clint smirked. "Well, we were going to suggest a few self-defense moves augmented by strenth and stamina training, and some flexibility training, but..."

"No, no, I like that plan better."

"Good." He gestured to Natasha. "Ladies first."

"Right. This is warm up."

A ridiculously intense hour later, Diana was peeling herself off the mat pitifully. The super spies weren't even winded. "Please tell me we're done for the day? I'm starving, and I don't think I can walk."

Natasha rolled her eyes, smiling. "You can walk. You'll be sore for the first week, but as long as you drink plenty of water you'll be fine."

"First day's always the worst," Clint added, slinging an arm around Diana's shoulder and walking her to the locker room. "But you did good today, for a complete civilian novice."

"All due to my excellent soulmates," Diana said cheerfully, and closed the door on him.

She and Natasha went to breakfast, and as soon as she sat down, Steve appeared with a plate of oatmeal, bacon, and fruit salad and set it in front of her. "So how'd it go?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow at Clint and Natasha.

"She has good form, and has a good idea of the movements," Natasha replied, as Diana ignored them for a second cup of coffee.

"Probably from watching us train for months," Clint added. "In a few weeks she'll be able to take down bad guys like a pro."

"Don't exaggerate," Diana said, coming back to the present. "I didn't even get close to either of you today."

"Yeah, but we've been doing it for _ages_ ," Clint said.

"And besides, you could totally take him in six months," Tasha added, grinning.

"No way."

"Yes way."

"Is that a bet?"

"Definitely."

"We are not betting on my wife's fighting skills," Steve interrupted, his face flushing lightly as he realized that was the first time he'd really called her his wife in public.

Diana sighed in relief and leaned against his side. "Thank you."

The training continued every morning at seven o'clock for two weeks. Clint returned to his farm after that, and Sam and Wanda stepped in with Natasha to work with Diana. During the first month, though, Steve didn't come down once while Diana was in the gym.

She asked him about it one evening, while he was reading something on his tablet and she was reading a novel. "Hey Steve, love of my life?"

"Yes, equal love of my life?" he asked, putting down the tablet to smile at her.

"Why don't you ever come down with me to the gym?"

His smile dropped, and a tiny frown took up residence in his forehead. "I don't want to make you nervous," he finally replied, picking up his tablet again.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "That's sweet, darling, but you realize I can literally tell when you're lying to me, right?" She moved to sit on his lap and put both their reading material on the table. She put her arms around her neck. "What's the real reason?"

Steve sighed. "I don't want to watch you, because," he sighed and buried his face in her shoulder. "It's stupid."

"Tell me anyway," she coaxed, running her fingers through his hair lightly. She pressed a kiss to his head. "Steve?"

"I know you need this, the training and the skills, to keep you safe, but…" He sighed in frustration. "I don't want you to need them. I want to be able to keep you safe, protect you from the whole universe, if I have to." He wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tight. "You're the one precious, innocent thing I have in the whole world. I don't want you to lose that. I know you won't, that it's just the basics, but still, I should be able to protect you. You shouldn't need this." He huffed a slightly irritated sigh and pressed his face against the soft skin of her neck.

She smoothed his hair for a few moments while she contemplated her answer. She had a feeling telling him 'Don't be an idiot' would not be very convincing. "Steve," she started, kissing his forehead lightly. "You have protected me. You saved the world, several times. You saved me. And teaching me self-defense is also going to protect me. I'm not going to go into battle. I'm only a bookworm, not a superhero, and I've got an entire team of soulmates, led by my husband, the amazing Captain America. Perhaps you've heard of him. He's got a nifty metal frisbee, the occasional self-doubt problem." She nuzzled his cheek lovingly and kissed his ear. "Well?"

He kissed her. "He sounds like a pretty swell guy, except for that pesky self-doubt problem."

"Oh, between me and his other soulmate we keep it under control." She smoothed his hair. "So will you come down tomorrow and watch me?"

He tucked her head under his chin and leaned back on the sofa. "I would love to."

She smiled at him. "Thank you." She leaned against him and closed her eyes, enjoying the heat his furnace of a body provided. "Just don't expect anything spectacular. I can kind of pin Wanda to the mat, if she's not using her powers."

Steve pulled the blanket off the end of hte couch and draped it around them both. "That's progress."

"I should get a super power, don't you think?" Diana asked, rambling the sleepier she got. "It's kind of not fair, you know, that everybody's got a power but me."

"Sam, Clint, and Rhodey don't have super powers," Steve reminded her, closing his eyes to enjoy the moment.

"Yeah, but they've got suits and bows and stuff." She grumbled under her breath. "All I've got is a keyboard. And a deadline for that article on Tuesday."

He kissed her forehead. "You've already got a superpower, love. You're a superhero-wrangler. That is officially the most useful superpower out there."

"True that." She stifled a yawn. "We should probably go to bed."

"Probably."

She started to get up, and fell back onto his chest. "Nah. You're too comfy."

He stood up and carried her into the bedroom. "We still have to get up early tomorrow," he reminded her.

She frowned at him. "You're totally killing the warm fuzzy moment we were having." She shuffled under the covers and pulled them up to her chin.

He smirked at her. "Sorry."

"No, you're not."

"Not really," he agreed, placing his shoes under the edge of the bed.

"Captain America's also got a serious sassy side, did you know that?" she asked, curling into his side once he lay down.

He nodded thoughtfully. "I did know that, actually."

She rolled her eyes. "Good night, mister."

"Love you, dear."


	18. Chapter 18

**Finally, next chapter. Here we have fluff, angst, pre-serum!Steve, and more fluff.**

Diana jolted awake from a sound sleep, gasping.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked, turning to face her, instantly awake and in Captain America mode.

She focused on the emotions flooding her brain. "Someone's got a nightmare. It's okay, I'll be back in a bit." She kissed him on the forehead and slipped out of bed. "Go back to sleep."

"Kay." Steve rolled over and went back to sleep.

She stuffed her feet into a pair of slippers and tugged on the nearest sweater she could lay her hands on. It was one of Steve's, and as she walked out of the room she tugged the endless sleeves up till her hands poked out. She paused in the hallway to concentrate. "FRIDAY, is anyone in distress?" she asked quietly.

"Sergeant Barnes, miss."

"Thanks." She turned around and walked towards Bucky's rooms. She rang the doorbell. Nothing. "Bucky?" she called, tapping the override code. No answer. She went in. "FRIDAY, half lights, please."

The lights came up gently, revealing a trembling Bucky in the middle of a nightmare. He was muttering things in Russian, his hands fisted into the sheets.

"Bucky?" She sat on the bed next to him and started to stroke his hair gently. It worked on everybody except Vision, who didn't have nightmares to begin with. Even worked on Sam and Rhodey. "Come on, Buck, you're safe," she soothed. "Everything's fine, you're okay, it's just a dream." He stilled under her hand. "That's it, shh, it's okay Bucky, you're safe."

His eyes opened and he stared up at her, unseeing, for a few moments. Then his eyes focused, and he blinked up at her. "Diana?" he asked hoarsely.

"Hey," she said, smiling at him gently.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, confused, sitting up against the headboard. He rubbed at his eyes. "Was I yelling?"

"No, just talking." She smiled at him reassuringly and clasped her arms around her knees to look at him. "Want to talk about it?"

"Aren't you supposed to be with Steve?" he deflected.

She laughed. "Just because I'm married doesn't mean I'm not going to be there for the rest of my soulmates, you dork." She raised an eyebrow. "But if it makes you uncomfortable I could go get Steve-"

"No, no, it's fine," Bucky said, holding out a hand to stop her. "I don't want the punk freaking out."

"You have so much faith in him," Diana deadpanned, making him smirk. She patted his arm gently. "Seriously though, Buck, your nightmare?"

He flinched. "I don't want to talk about it."

"I know." She continued to look at him steadily.

He ran his fingers through his hair. "Seriously, Diana, I don't want to talk about it."

"Okay," she said reasonably.

He sighed. "I was back there, as _him_. My mission was Steve, and, and I killed him this time. I killed him in cold blood, and you were screaming at me, Di, you just kept screaming that you hated me, and Steve just kept staring at me with those empty eyes and I-" He buried his face in his hands and shuddered almost painfully.

She took a deep breath and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, resting her cheek on his hair. "Shhh," she murmured comfortingly, "it's okay, I don't hate you, Steve's alive, you didn't hurt anybody, it's fine." She rubbed his back gently, and waited for him to calm down.

Bucky finally stopped shuddering, and gave Diana a brief hug. "Okay. I think I'm okay now." He took a deep breath and leaned back against the headboard, his eyes still looking a little hollow.

"C'mon," Diana said, tugging at his hand gently. "Let's go have some hot cocoa." She let him grab a sweater, and they headed out to the kitchen.

Steve was standing at the stove in his pajamas and bare feet, stirring a pot. He turned to see them and smiled. "Hey, there you guys are. Hot cocoa?"

Diana smiled at him. "You read my mind." She shoved Bucky gently into one of the chairs and he numbly accepted the mug of hot cocoa from Steve.

"Tag-teaming just isn't fair," Bucky muttered grumpily, even though he was smiling as he took a sip.

"How else are we going to keep up with our soulmates?" Diana asked, wrapping an arm around Steve's waist.

They moved to the couch in the living room and turned on a late night talk show. Before the show finished, they were all three conked out.

Pietro found them like that the next morning, grinned, took a picture, and hollered from across the room, " _GOOoooood morning sunshine_!"

Bucky and Steve both leaped off the couch, battle ready, Steve pushing Diana behind him and Bucky. When Steve saw who it was, he groaned and threw a pillow at Pietro's head. He wasn't ready for that, and with super soldier strength behind it, the speedster was knocked into the wall. "Ow," he grumbled.

Steve ignored him and turned to Diana, helping her off the floor. "You okay?"

"Well, I'm up," she said, smirking at Pietro. "Little brat. Just for that you can make breakfast."

"No, Diana," he whined.

"It'll only take you like, ten seconds."

He perked up. "Oh yeah." Ten seconds later, there was a giant omelet cooking on the stove, toast going, and coffee brewing. "That took _forever_ ," he complained.

"Ten seconds, Pietro," she said.

"But in my time frame that was like, forty minutes."

"Sure, kid," Bucky said, rolling his eyes.

Diana continued to care for her soulmates. She was always there for them during nightmares, flashbacks, and anniversaries. Sam and Rhodey were honorary soulmates, and she gave them the same treatment. And when she was actually working, in conjunction with the Avengers' PR department, they graciously gave her space to write.

It was the middle of the night when the Avengers returned from a mission. Diana had been sound asleep, not expecting them till the morning, and FRIDAY woke her up. "Miss Lawrence."

"What is it, FRIDAY?" Diana asked groggily, reaching out for Steve before she remembered he was on a mission. She hugged his pillow instead. "News?"

"You're being paged to the med ward. Captain Rogers has been injured."

Diana was instantly awake. "How bad?" she demanded, pulling on her shoes.

FRIDAY paused. "Unknown."

Diana burst into the med ward two minutes later, her hair in a messy ponytail. "Where is he?" she demanded of the worried-looking nurses, and headed for the doors of the ward.

Bucky appeared from one of the hallways and grabbed her arms gently. "Diana, doll, wait-"

"Where is he? Is he okay?" She grabbed at his shoulders, scared by the look on his face. "Bucky, please, just _tell me_."

"He's alive," Bucky promised. "And he's mostly okay. He's sleeping right now."

"I want to see him," she demanded.

Bucky hesitated. "I don't think you want to see him till he's healed-"

"Bucky. I'm his _wife_. I don't care if it's scarring, or burns, or a billion tubes and monitors-" She was growing frantic from worry.

"All right, all right." He rubbed at his forehead. "C'mon then. He's sleeping right now, so, don't freak out, okay?" He led her into the private hospital room, ignoring Dr. Cho and the other doctors hovering nearby.

Diana followed him in cautiously, and gasped when she saw Steve on the bed. "He's _tiny_ ," she said weakly, afraid to touch him. "What happened?"

Bucky huffed. "The idiot jumped on a bomb. It wasn't the exploding kind though; it was a chemical bomb. He kept it from hitting any of us, but he absorbed the full effect of the gas."

"And he shrunk?" Diana asked, confused, still keeping her distance. "Is this like last time, when we turned into four year olds?"

"Yes, kind of, but not the age thing. He's the same age, it's just... The chemicals dissolved the super soldier serum in his blood, causing him to revert to his pre-serum state, plus the injuries he got in the fight before that." Bucky's metal hand was flexing unconsciously, showing his worry for his friend and brother, even though his face was mostly calm.

"Is this permanent?" Diana reached out to touch Steve's cheek gently.

Bucky winced. "Uh, we don't know. The doctors think that his body might reproduce the serum in time once the chemicals wear off, but we don't know yet." He reached out to touch Diana's shoulder, stopped, and retracted his hand quickly. "I'm sorry, doll. We couldn't get to him in time."

"It wasn't your fault," she replied, giving him a quick smile before turning back to her husband. "What," she cleared her throat, "what are his injuries from the fight?"

"Bruised ribs, sprained ankle, slight concussion, lots of cuts and bruises."

"There was no jumping off of tall things?" she asked wryly.

"Not this time."

She nodded, taking a deep breath. "All right. That's not so bad."

Bucky winced again. "Yeah, but there's all his original problems, too."

"We never really talked about them," she murmured. "What are they?"

"Asthma, anemia, heart murmur, sinusitis, scoliosis, allergies, chronic indigestion along with chronic malnutrition, color blindness, and, just generally awful immune system." Bucky reeled the list off without blinking, having memorized it when he was five years old. "Even with me and his ma helping him, sometimes I still don't know how he survived long enough to even enlist. Now though, he should be okay. There's medicine, and treatments, and as long as he takes it easy, he should be fine." He glanced at the door. "I'll talk to the doctors if you want, see what kind of medicine he's going to need." He backed out of the room.

Diana nodded distantly and pulled the chair closer to the bed. She took Steve's hand. His fingers were long and thin, and his wrists were ridiculously bony. They were still his hands, though. She smiled and pressed a kiss to his palm.

"Mm," Steve groaned, his hand flexing. It took him ten minutes to wake up from his drug-induced haze, but after he blinked a couple of times, he registered his surroundings, and smiled at her. "Diana."

"Hey, soldier," she said, squeezing his hand gently. "How do you feel?"

"Smaller," he said, trying to sit up. He groaned and pressed a hand to his head.

She pressed his shoulder back into the bed, actually able to hold him still with just one hand. "Just rest, Steve," she admonished.

"Don't like hospitals," he grumbled. He coughed, and his chest rattled. "I've lived like this my whole life, I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. Bruised ribs and concussions don't heal in an hour when you're a normal human, Steve."

"Oh yeah." He closed his eyes. "I think I've been drugged."

"Yep." She leaned forward to kiss his cheek. "Sleep, hon. I'll be right here when you wake up."

He grunted and shifted over on the hospital bed. "Come here."

"Steve, no, your ribs-" she protested.

He waved off her concern. "It's fine, come here. I haven't seen you in days, please?" he pouted up at her, blinking sleepily.

She relented and lay down next to him, carefully putting an arm around his waist. "This okay?"

He was smiling. "Yeah, this is good." He pressed a kiss to her temple. "Now I can sleep." True to his words, he was asleep in less than a minute.

Diana took another hour to get to sleep, hyper-aware of the beeping of the monitors and the IV on his wrist, and the bandages on his ribs. But eventually his breathing and the steady beeping of the heart monitor lulled her to sleep.

She was woken a few hours later by a soft, "Shh, don't wake them up."

"Too late," she muttered, opening her eyes to find Clint and Tony in the doorway. "What are you doing here?" she whispered, surprised.

"Tasha called us in," Clint replied, entering the room. "Me for manpower and Tony for his brains, obviously."

"Obviously," Diana said dryly, carefully disengaging herself from Steve's arms and sliding off the hospital bed.

He muttered something in his sleep, disgruntled by the loss of warmth.

She kissed his cheek softly. "I'll be right back," she whispered.

He subsided again.

"This is the first time in seventy years that drugs have actually worked on him," Diana said, smoothing his hair. "If he gets any epic painkillers we should record him."

Tony couldn't stop staring. "He's so thin. Has he eaten?"

Diana gave him an odd look. "You should know better than any of us what he looked like before the serum, Tony."

"Yeah, I mean, I've seen pics and heard the stories, but in real life..." he shook his head.

Clint huffed and put an arm around Diana's shoulders. "Come on, bedhead, let's go have some breakfast."

"But Steve-"

"Tony will stay with him. He's gotta do an analysis or something." He guided her out the door and up to the cafeteria. He served them both omelets and waffles, and chatted about his kids and how fast Nathaniel was growing until they'd both finished. He poured them both a fresh cup of coffee, waited for Diana to take a sip, and then asked, "So how are you?"

Diana took a sip of coffee. "I'm fine."

"Diana, sweetheart, you're the only one among us who isn't emotionally constipated and you can't start now. Come on." He took her hand across the table. "How are you, really?"

She couldn't help it. Her eyes filled with tears and she sobbed into her coffee cup. "I don't know," she admitted. "I'm so scared."

To his credit, Clint did not panic when she burst into tears. He pulled her into a hug, glared at the agents in the cafeteria till they vacated the area, and patted her back soothingly. "It'll be okay, I promise," he said eventually, after her crying had tapered off. "Whatever happens, we'll figure it out, we'll take care of you and Steve. You know that right? You're not alone, whatever happens."

"I know," she said quietly. "I just," sniff, "really needed a good cry."

He patted her back and let out a chuckle. "I could tell. Better with me than with Tony or anyone else."

Diana snickered. The last time she'd cried, during a movie, Vision and Pietro had freaked out. Diana wiped her eyes and took a deep breath. "Okay. I'm good now."

He stood up and held out a hand. "Ready to go back before Tony does something we'll all regret?"

She hesitated. "One more cup of coffee."

Steve was just barely waking up when they returned. "Diana?" he asked drowsily.

She sat on the edge of the bed next to him. "Hey there, soldier."

He eyed the mug in her hand interestedly. "Coffee?"

"Not for you, Cap, sorry," Tony said, "your blood pressure is still erratic. The doctors are compiling a list."

Steve sighed.

Diana took a sip of coffee and smiled at him teasingly. "So how do you feel?"

He contemplated his answer for a moment, still hazy from the drugs. "My ribs hurt, but otherwise I'm okay. I actually feel more normal for the first time in years, all ninety-eight pounds of me."

"You weigh less than I do," Diana realized suddenly.

"Of course. _You_ are taller than me and perfect. _I_ am short and malnourished." He pouted at her with those baby blue eyes, magnified even more in his thin face. "Just one sip, love, please?"

She sighed and handed him the coffee cup. "One sip."

He sniffed it eagerly and took a long swallow. "This is cafeteria coffee isn't it?"

Clint smirked. "You'll have to watch out, Diana. His pout is almost as good as Lila's."

"Nearly irresistible," Diana agreed, retrieving her coffee.

"Nearly?" Steve asked, eyes beseeching for another sip.

She grinned at him and put the coffee away. "Nearly," she confirmed. "Lila's is completely irresistible."

"I'll have to work on that," Steve muttered, giving her a sly grin.

Clint frowned and half-raised his hand. "Wait, question."

"The chairman recognizes Hawkeye," Tony said snidely.

"Why can't we just use the regen cradle, and poof?" Clint rubbed at his side absently.

"Because we don't have a sample of his original serum'ed cells and we don't know if the printed ones will turn into super soldier awesomeness when he finally does," Tony replied.

"Oh."

Steve sat up, wincing. "When can I get out of here?"

"Never, if we had a choice," Dr. Cho said, coming in. "But you can leave whenever you want, really, as long as you take it easy."

" _Very_ easy," Tony added. "Coulson would kill us if his favorite superhero broke."

Steve rolled his eyes and started pulling wires and monitors off his arms. "Are my clothes around there, doll?"

She helped him put on his shirt and pants and frowned. "We need to go shopping. You look like a ten-year-old in his dad's clothes."

"A painfully cute ten-year-old," Tony said annoyingly.

Steve glared at him. "I can still fight you," he said.

Tony retreated hastily and Clint left, laughing his head off.

Steve was very quiet as they walked back to their apartment, ignoring all the stares from the people they passed.

"What's wrong?" Diana finally asked, in the privacy of their living room.

Steve sighed. "It's nothing. I'm just tired. I forgot how exhausting it is being me. I mean, being this size." He sat next to the window, scowling out at the landscape.

Diana frowned and stood behind his chair, draping her arms around his shoulders gently. "You mean, having people like Tony Stark call you cute." When he winced, she knew she'd hit the mark. "First of all, Tony's a jerk to everyone and you know it, so ignore him. Second, even if he does fuss over you it doesn't mean he doesn't respect you. Everyone still respects you, Steve, trust me. They're just worried about you. This is new to all of us except Bucky, and he mother-hen's you anyway."

Steve groaned. "Speaking of which, I can't believe he's not here right now, hovering."

"Point being," Diana continued, pressing a kiss to his thin cheek, "you're still the Avengers' team leader. You're still Steve Rogers, the man we all love and respect."

"But I'm not Captain America."

"Not right now, no."

He turned to face her. "What if this is permanent?"

"Then you and I can retire to Maui and build a library, and Bucky can have the shield. I don't know." She kissed him lightly. "There's no use being dramatic about anything until we know for sure."

"True." He eyed her curiously. "You're taking this whole thing very well."

She snickered. "You were asleep for the part where I cried for half an hour into Clint's shoulder." She smoothed away the frown on his forehead. "Don't look at me like that, I'm okay."

There was a knock on the door and Bucky barged in, arms full of stuff. "I brought your inhaler and a pair of contacts, and blood pressure medicine, and two kinds of allergy pills for day and night, and a humidifier for your room because he coughs a lot during the night." He raised an eyebrow when Steve and Diana burst into laughter. "What?" he asked, bewildered.

Diana sobered slightly and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Buck."

He grudgingly accepted the caress, ruffled Steve's hair in revenge, and left, calling, "Take your pills!"

"Was he like this back then?" Diana asked, sifting through the bags of meds and their instructions.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Worse, actually. I have a feeling Stark and Natasha are going to be just as bad."

She sat next to him and snuggled into his side. "Let us fuss over you," she requested, craning her neck to look up at him. "You're always looking after the team, let them take care of you, all right?"

He sighed. "I suppose."

Half of the team didn't know what to make of Steve's new, or rather old, appearance, and the other half of the team smothered him within an inch of his life. Besides Diana, Clint was the only one who treated him mostly normal, and after a frustrating tactical briefing Steve asked him why.

Clint shrugged. "After Loki, you know, everyone was acting around me the same way they're acting around you. Tip-toeing, not sure if I was going to break down any second. But you didn't. You trusted me to watch your back during the fight and let me have my space to deal with it afterwards. I'm just returning the favor."

Steve nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem, man." Clint clapped him on the shoulder, mindful of his bruised ribs. "I'll be in the shooting range if you need to hide from the hens."

"Thanks."

Tasha couldn't look him in the eye. She watched him almost constantly when he was in the room, and she hovered over him and Diana almost as much as Bucky, but she hadn't once met his eyes.

He finally called her on it after they'd spent nearly an hour in the same room, going over reports from the field. "There a problem, Romanoff?" he asked sharply, in his 'Captain America' voice.

She glanced at him, surprise showing on her face till her poker face reasserted itself. "No, no problem." Her eyes flickered towards his face. "You okay?" she asked cautiously.

"I'm not the one who can't look me straight in the eyes," he retorted. "Look at me, Natasha."

Her gaze fixed itself to the left of his nose. "There. I'm looking at you. What do you want, Rogers?"

"You're still not looking at me," he said, frustrated. "Is it so strange, me being like this, that you can't handle it?"

"No," she said. "Yes. I don't know."

"Well, which is it?"

She huffed, irritated. "Yes. Yes, it is strange, because you don't even look real, but your eyes are exactly the same, and it freaks me out, that Captain America, _the_ superhero, was once so fragile. I could break you in half, Rogers, without even meaning to."

"But you won't," he said firmly. "I trust you, Natasha."

"Steve, you ate a peanut yesterday and almost died. Bucky's got more epi-pens on him now than concealed weapons."

"That was an accident," Steve said flatly.

"Yeah. What if another accident happens? What if one of us gets a flashback or someone loses control of their powers and you're standing there?"

"Then Bucky will probably kill me himself for getting in the way," Steve said wryly, and chuckled.

"What?" she asked defensively.

He smirked. "The infamous Black Widow scared of a ninety-eight pound asthmatic."

"It's not funny, Steve."

He patted her on the arm. "I trust you, Natasha. And I trust everyone else on the team, too. Also, if you could tell Vision, Wanda, and Pietro that they can stop hiding from me, that'd be great."

She took a deep breath, reassured, finally met his gaze and nodded, looking a little calmer. "Sure thing, Cap."

It was four days after Steve's reversion that the call to assemble rang out. Everyone, including Steve, gathered in the briefing room. "Report," Steve ordered. He was the boss, after all.

"An alien artifact has appeared in Russia. It was on the black market, but the businessman who bought it is now a fire-y monster thing." Maria put up a video. "I'm not kidding. He was literally on fire, and went through an entire unit of the Russian military. They're asking for our help."

"Is this some sort of play on Extremis?" Tony asked. "Maybe jacked up with the alien artifact's powers?"

"We don't know yet," Maria said, "but whatever it is, it's powerful."

Steve nodded. "All right, suit up. I'll coordinate with Hill from here."

Everyone shared a glance and heaved a collective sigh of relief.

He smirked at them. "You didn't think I was going to insist on coming with, did you?"

"We kind of did, actually," Tony said, after a second.

Steve shook his head. "There's stubborn and then there's stupid. I hope you know that my brain didn't shrink with my muscles. Black Widow, you're in command. Everybody suit up." He waited till people started dispersing, and added, "Bucky, c'mere."

"Yeah?" Bucky asked.

Steve gave him a Look. "Are you going to be okay in Russia, Buck?"

Bucky nodded, determined. "I'll be fine."

"All right. Take the shield."

Bucky hesitated. "You sure, Steve?"

"Somebody's gotta take the shield out for a spin, right? And if you're Captain America, no one will know that anything's wrong with Steve Rogers."

"Oh I see, I'm a red herring," Bucky said.

"Yep."

Bucky gave him a mock salute and headed out.

The mission in Russia went off without a hitch. The military was more scared of Black Widow and the former Winter Soldier than they were of the firey villain, and for once the Avengers had absolute cooperation from the local authorities regarding evacuation and containment.

"Good work, everyone," Steve said over the comms, and let Maria handle the cleanup. He felt exhausted from all the excitement, and he could feel his chest tightening. "Not now," he muttered, hoping to make it back to the apartment before his asthma attack went full-blown. He made it halfway to the apartment and keeled over, gasping for air.

An inhaler was shoved in his face a few moments later, and he sucked at it greedily. The inhaler worked, and when he could breathe again, he opened his eyes to find a worried Diana kneeling next to him. "I'm okay," he wheezed.

She rubbed his back and handed him a portable nebulizer. "Breathe," she ordered.

He breathed, and they sat in the hallway until Steve felt okay. "I remember now why I let the government experiment on me," he groaned, laying down on the sofa as soon as they reached the apartment.

"Just breathe," Diana said, sitting down so he could put his head in her lap. "Everyone's okay, you can relax. How about some TV?"

"Sure."

They watched re-runs of NCIS on TV until the team came home. The Rogers met them in the hangar. "Did you at least _try_ to evade?" Diana asked, amused, as her singed, sooty, and charred soulmates left the quinjet.

"He had fire-jets, or something," Sam said, scowling at the melted remains of his wings.

"Yeah. They were hot enough to melt my suit," Tony said, his scowl even fiercer. "It melted through everything except Cap's shield."

Bucky smirked and held it up. "It's gonna need a new paint job, though." It was pure metal again, the red, white, and blue gone.

Natasha nodded to the insulated case on the jet. "Hill, get that to a shielded lab. No direct skin contact."

"Got it." The artifact was carted away.

"Good thing I'm here," Tony said, forcibly yanking a piece of the War Machine armor off of Rhodey to let him breathe. "Everybody who needs new stuff, follow me."

"Showers first," Diana interrupted. "You guys are tracking soot everywhere and you're going to give Steve another asthma attack."

" _Another_?" Bucky questioned. "When was the first one? Should you even be up?"

Steve huffed. "I'm _fine_ , Buck." He nodded at his teammates. "Debrief in an hour."

Over the next week, there were no more calls, and Steve's body showed no progress toward recuperating the super serum. It was slowly sinking in that Steve's condition might be permanent, and that was something no one wanted to face.

"If Bruce were here," Tony said quietly, to Diana and Natasha. "If anyone could reverse the effects, he could."

"We can't find him," Natasha said. She grimaced. "And with our resources, that's saying something."

"What about leads on who built the bomb that did this to him?" Diana asked.

"It was HYDRA. But the scientists in the cell we destroyed are dead, cyanide pills. Their research is gone. We've got no leads. If anything happens, it's up to Steve's own cells."

"But we can't do _nothing_ ," Tony said, frustrated.

"The only thing you can do is focus on rebuilding the team's tech," Diana said calmly. "If nothing happens by the end of the month, then we'll figure it out."

Tony nodded and went to barricade himself in the lab. Natasha nodded and went to scan for traces of gamma radiation in the Pacific islands again. Diana went to her husband and curled up into his side.

"What's wrong?" he asked, putting an arm around her.

"Tony's stressing me out about something that's already stressing me out," she said vaguely.

He kissed the top of her head, unsure of how to comfort her.

A couple days later Diana was working on a freelance article about Harper Lee. The team had strictly forbidden Steve from the training complex. Steve was not in the mood for solitude. So he went to the labs where Tony was rebuilding bits of Rhodey's suit.

"Hey Cap," Tony greeted him. "What's up?"

"Nothing."

Tony gestured to another chair. "Pull up a seat, I need someone to ramble at and FRIDAY's just not snarky enough. Sorry, sweetheart," he added, glancing at the ceiling.

"No offense taken," FRIDAY replied.

"See what I mean?" Tony asked dryly.

Steve sat in the chair and nearly died in silent mortification when his feet didn't touch the ground. "Do you miss JARVIS?" he asked, hoping Tony hadn't noticed.

Tony grunted, trying to force open a seam on a chest plate. "Sometimes," he replied. "But it's okay because Vision is here, and Vision, he exceeds all my expectations. And I can still talk to him at three in the morning. He's cool like that." He pulled at the seam again. "Hey Cap, could you-" He froze, the chest piece dangling from his outstretched hand as he stared at Steve. "Oh. I forgot. Never mind. Um, leverage." He turned back to the table for a small crowbar. "I got this."

Steve ignored the awkwardness of the moment (if he were Cap he could've pulled it open in two seconds) and asked, "So you're doing okay in Malibu?"

"Yeah," Tony replied. "Yeah, I see Pepper more, which is fantastic, and I've got time for pet projects and new developments. SI is launching a new portable water filter that comes out next month." He finally got the armor open, and frowned. "Huh."

"What?" Steve hopped off the chair (grimacing inwardly that he needed to _hop_ at all) and leaned over Tony's shoulder to see. There was a tiny crystallized chunk of something nestled in between the machinery. "Is that a piece of the artifact?" he asked.

"Don't know. FRIDAY?"

"Scanning."

Tony picked up a pair of thin pliers. "Whatever it is, it's gotta come out, it's ruining the electrical connections." He moved to pluck the object from the suit.

As soon as the pliers made contact, the piece exploded outwards in a blast of heat and light, sending both men flying backwards.

Tony hit the ground, blinked, and rolled over. "Readings!" he demanded, staring at the ceiling.

"It was a piece of the artifact from Russia," FRIDAY reported. "If you'd waited five seconds, sir-"

"There's the snark," Tony grumbled, sitting up slowly. Then he remembered that Steve was on the room with him. "STEVE!" He bolted up from the ground and looked for Steve. The smaller man was sitting up beside the lab table, holding his head. "Steve are you all right? Don't be broken, Diana's gonna kill me."

Steve coughed. "Not broken, just bruised."

Tony pulled an inhaler from his pocket and pushed it into Steve's hands. "Breathe," he ordered.

"Sir, I'm reading significant radiation output from the explosion," FRIDAY said.

"How significant?" Tony asked, going pale. "Never mind that, start decontamination procedures. Was this lab sealed?"

"Yes sir, the lab is contained. Please remove to the showers."

They both had to scrub and go through an ionizing process, and from there headed immediately to the med ward. The doctors checked them out and pronounced them not about to keel over from radiation sickness.

Tony scratched at his still-damp hair. "Let's make a pact. We're not going to mention this incident to anyone. Deal?"

Steve shook his hand firmly. "Deal."

They went back to the lab, Tony continued working on the suits, and Steve sketched.

"What did you do all day?" Diana asked as they were both getting ready for bed later that night.

"Nothing much," Steve replied. "Hung around, sketched. That's one nice thing about being this size. I've got a lot of time to work on my drawing."

"That's an idea," Diana said, snuggling up to him. "You could go to art school. Or any college program really."

"College?"

"Well why not?" Diana asked.

Steve frowned thoughtfully. "I don't know. I never really thought about it. I've never had the money to think about it."

Diana yawned. "Well, you think, and I'll go to sleep."

"Yes dear." He kissed her lightly, and reached over to turn out the lights.

The next morning when Steve was reaching for his pills, he didn't have to stretch so far. He frowned. "Diana?"

She was pulling on her training clothes. "Yeah babe?"

"Am I taller, or has the cabinet shrunk?"

She came into the bathroom and scrutinized him carefully. "Hm." She stood in front of him, nose to nose, and looked up at him by half an inch. "You _are_ taller." Her eyes sparkled. "This is good right? Let's go the med bay and get you checked out. FRIDAY, let Tasha know I won't be down for training."

Steve wrapped an arm around her waist before she could get away, and pressed a kiss to her lips. "I love you," he said, grinning.

She hugged him tightly. "I love you too. Now put on a shirt and let's go."

"Yes ma'am."

The doctors took a blood sample, and after an hour of pacing for Steve and distracted reading for Diana, they got the results back. "The serum is reappearing in your bloodstream," the doctor confirmed. "Possibly your exposure to radiation yesterday kick started the process."

"What radiation?" Diana asked, and caught Steve's wince. "Steve?"

"It was Tony's fault," he replied immediately. "Something from the artifact blew up from yesterday on accident. We were fine."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Didn't want to worry you."

She frowned at him. "Not cool, Captain Rogers." Her frown softened. "But I'm glad it turned out okay."

He took her hand and looked at the doctor. "How long do you estimate till I'm back at one hundred percent?"

"Another few days, maybe two weeks, it's hard to say at this point."

They left the med ward and went to tell the others. "If I'd known it was radiation we needed I'd have put you in the microwave days ago," Tony said cheerfully.

Everyone was similarly relieved. Cap was going to be fine.

The next morning, Steve had gained ten pounds and grown another inch. The day afterwards, he broke a coffee mug by holding it, and gained another ten pounds of muscle in the afternoon. He was having horrible growing pains, but with the serum revitalizing his system, nothing but horse tranquilizers worked. He refused to take them. Each day he grew a bit more, and by the end of the week he was Captain America in all his muscled glory once again.

The team had a 'We Missed You, Steve's Muscles' banner strung out over the common room that evening, and toasted the return of Captain America with champagne from Tony's stock.

"Now, we've got to make sure you get back in shape," Bucky said. "Spar tomorrow?"

"I thought I was banned from the training complex," Steve retorted, grinning.


	19. Chapter 19

**All right, here we start getting into Civil War. I am not going to follow the movie, especially since it hasn't come out yet and I don't like character deaths on principle, so whatever seems familiar is stuff I've borrowed from the trailers. But first, a bit of Disney to start us off :)**

Diana watched with rapt attention as her husband and his best friend sparred with each other both wielding sticks resembling quarterstaffs. "I kind of feel like defeating the Huns, now," she remarked idly.

Steve glanced at her and barely managed to avoid getting brained by a side-swipe. "What?"

"You know. Mulan."

"What?"

Her eyes widened. "You haven't seen Mulan yet?"

"No... is it an action film?"

"It's Disney."

Bucky paused, and they both looked at her. "Disney?" Steve asked, wiping his face. "They made more movies?"

Diana gave a shriek of despair. " _Natasha_!"

The red-head appeared from the direction of the weights room. "What's wrong?"

"They've never seen _Mulan_ ," Diana said, a mock-horrified look on her face, "or _Tarzan,_ or _Aladdin_. Or _Finding Nemo!_ "

"How many are there?" Bucky asked eagerly.

"Fifty, at least," Diana said, "and then there's Pixar and Dreamworks, and _Anastasia_. You _guys_. Steve, who was the one who brought you up to speed in this century? They should be fired."

Steve shrugged. "Didn't have one. The one SHIELD brought in was patronizing and I decided to do it on my own."

"Right. That changes right now. We are doing Disney." Diana pointed at the locker rooms. "Go shower, and I'll make a snack."

"You should start chronologically," Nat advised, "let 'em see how animation slowly evolved. Steve will get a kick out of that."

"Tasha, you are a genius. You should watch with us."

"I have things to-"

" _Please_?" Diana asked, giving her slight puppy eyes.

"I have paperwork," Natasha started.

"You know you want to," Diana cajoled.

Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Why can't I say no to you?"

Diana smiled cheekily and gave her a quick hug. "It's my superpower, and besides, everyone loves Disney. _And_ , Bucky likes to cuddle during movies."

"Diana, I swear-" Natasha's face turned red.

"Can't hear you!" Diana called as she ran away, snickering.

The four of them congregated in the media room, Steve and Diana in one loveseat, her feet in his lap, and Bucky and Natasha on the other loveseat, Tasha's feet curled up under her.

The movie was just starting when Pietro came in. "Cartoons?" he asked, raising a mocking eyebrow.

"Steve and Buck have only seen the first four Disney films," Diana explained. "We're doing a marathon."

"Oh." Pietro hesitated. "We've only seen _Frozen_."

Diana smiled. "Go get Wanda. You two are in for a treat."

The six of them were half way through _Peter Pan_ when Vision came in. "What are you-"

"Shhh," Bucky said, completely enraptured.

"Sit with us," Wanda offered.

Sam wandered in an hour later. "Ooh, Disney, yes." He sat on the floor, and Steve tossed him a pillow. "Pass the popcorn?"

It took them a week to get through the magical experience that was Disney, and everyone walked around singing Disney songs for days.

Tony couldn't believe it when he came back upstate to visit, and heard a medley of voices singing _"Under the sea, under the sea! Since life is sweet here, we got the beat here, naturally!"_

He followed the singing to the lunchroom, where the fearless Avengers were doing an a capella version of the _Little Mermaid_ song. He waited until they were finished before stepping in. "What are you guys doing?" he asked, still astonished.

"Singing," Natasha said, tossing him a sushi roll.

He inspected the California roll. "Singing _Under the Sea_ while eating sushi? That's in poor taste, even for you guys. Why are you even singing Disney songs, anyway?"

"No reason," Diana said cheerfully. She gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek, and eyed the scruffy beard critically. "Pepper's out of town, isn't she?"

He smirked. "She's in Malibu, being CEO. She wants you to fly out soon. I'm going back down next week if you want to come along."

"Ugh, yes, totally should. I'm tired of snow." Diana grinned at him. "You know any Disney songs, Tony?"

He scoffed. "Are you kidding me?"

"Uh huh."

It wasn't two hours later that Diana caught Tony singing, _"Hakuna matata, what a wonderful phrase,"_ under his breath as he tinkered with a computer upgrade.

"Ah-ha!" She pointed at him dramatically. "I knew it! I knew it! _Everyone_ knows Disney!"

Tony started to turn red. "Don't say anything doll, you'll ruin my rep."

"I think it's cute," she said, giving him a grin.

He huffed. "See? Ruined."

When he flew back to Malibu, Diana went with him. Only a last-minute mission for the Avengers prevented Steve from coming with her. She and Pepper had a great time, practically living at the beach and going shopping. During the evening, Tony treated them to the fanciest restaurants and the coolest shows. During the day, he holed up in his workshop.

Diana went to talk to Tony the last day of her trip. She left the elevator and walked into the workshop. He was on the phone. "No, I don't think so. The accords are not some glorified contract-" he turned and saw her. "Gotta go." He hung up. "Hey, soulmate. You heading out?"

"Yeah, your corporate jet's heading east, I'm hitching a ride." She gave him a sidelong glance. "Who were you talking to?"

"Hm? Oh, investors. They're still not happy about what happened in Sokovia."

"You mean the part where the Avengers saved the world?" Diana asked sarcastically.

He smirked. "Yeah, that part."

She touched his arm lightly. "Is there going to be trouble, Tony?"

He said nothing, but the knitted eyebrows and the frown gave it away. "I think, doll, maybe you'd better stay in Malibu for a while."

The expression on his face worried her. "What's going to happen?"

"Nothing." He patted her on the head, slightly patronizing. "Nothing at all." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you in a few weeks."

"You're coming up?"

"Yeah. Got some business in DC."

She nodded slowly. "All right. See you later." She stopped at the threshold and turned to look at him. "If there is something wrong, you'd tell me right?"

His grin didn't reach his eyes. "Of course."

On the ride home, Diana logged into the internet. If some of his investors, if that's what they really were, were still upset about Sokovia, that meant some very important people were _really_ upset. And that meant SHIELD had been lying to her, giving her an edited view of public opinion on the Avengers.

She found nothing wrong at all. Which meant that somewhere, her searches were being edited. "FRIDAY?"

"Yes, miss?"

"Is there a filter on my Google searches?"

"Not that I can sense, Mrs. Rogers."

She frowned. "All right." She dropped it for now and picked up her book.

As soon as Diana stepped off the jet, she went in search of Vision. "Vision, there you are," she said. "Can you help me with something?"

"Of course." He gave her an odd look. "Have you just gotten back?"

"Yes." She handed him the laptop. "This is really important. Someone's filtering my searches. I don't know if it's SHIELD or one of you guys, thinking you're shielding my delicate sensibilities, but it's got to stop."

Vision stalled guiltily.

She frowned at him. "It _is_ one of you, isn't it?"

"I'm sorry, Diana, but Tony suggested-"

"Tony?" she asked slowly. "This was his idea?"

"He wanted to protect you," Vision said lamely.

Diana glared at him. "Fix it. Now."

Vision typed in a few things and hit enter. "I truly wish you would reconsider."

"Vision, this is my job. Literally, my job." She took the laptop from him. "Thank you. And, when he comes back to New York, we're going to have a small talk about proper protection of soulmates."

It was worse than she'd thought. People were honestly freaking out. And it was a good thing Bruce was MIA somewhere in the Pacific because half the cities in the world had banned him. Well, the Hulk. The vast majority of people had forgotten that the Avengers had only been there to accidentally cause mayhem because there were _ALIENS_ and _VILLAINS_ bent on _DESTRUCTION_ _first_.

She got so upset she had to get up and walk around for a bit. She turned the corner and bumped nose first into Steve's chest. His quick reflexes caught her, and he pulled her into a hug.

"You're home," he said, kissing her enthusiastically. "Did you have a nice time at the beach?"

"Yeah," she said, unable to give more than a small smile.

His smile dropped instantly and he put a gentle hand on her hip. "What's wrong?" he asked.

She met his gaze. "Did you know Tony put a filter on my laptop so I wouldn't know that public opinion is raging against the Avengers?"

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"You didn't know?"

"No I did not." His frown darkened. "I'm going to speak to him about it-"

"No, it's fine, I'll talk to him, or better yet tell Pepper-"

Sam came sprinting around the corner. "Steve! Something's wrong with Bucky's arm!"

Before Diana could even blink, Steve was down the corridor like a shot. She looked at Sam and they both went down the hall at a more reasonable pace. "What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"Don't exactly know. The gears in his arm just kind of stopped. He's stuck holding a cup of coffee."

"That's weird. Do you think it needs some sort of maintenance?"

They walked into the common room to find Bucky cowering in a corner, his arm out stiff in front of him, his metal fingers curled around a cup of coffee. Steve was standing a few feet in front of him cautiously. "Buck, everything okay?" he was asking.

"Besides the fact my arm's got a mind of its own, yeah, I'm good," Bucky replied shakily. "I can't let go of the stupid thing."

Steve was about to say something else, and then Bucky's face changed. His eyes went blank, and he charged at Steve, head down, metal arm swinging. With a yell, Steve caught his arm and turned him into the wall. "Bucky!"

"You're my mission," Bucky growled, his eyes still terrifyingly blank. He pulled a knife from out of thin air and charged again.

"Diana get out!" Steve ordered, and met the assassin head-on.

Sam grabbed Diana by the arm and hauled her out. "FRIDAY, assemble the others. Lock down the facility." He hustled her into the nearest safe room. " _Stay here_ ," he ordered. "Steve would kill me if I let anything happen to you." He locked the door behind him as he left.

Diana paced worriedly. She could feel a blankness where Bucky's emotions used to be. Somehow, the Winter Soldier had made a comeback, subduing Bucky's consciousness. She only hoped they'd be able to contain him before he hurt Steve or anyone else. "FRIDAY, give me visual," she demanded suddenly, unable to take the waiting.

FRIDAY actually hesitated. "Captain Rogers would not approve of-"

"I need to know they're okay. Show me."

Silently, FRIDAY pulled up the screen, and Diana gasped. Bucky had Steve in a headlock and was using him as a body shield. Neither Sam, Pietro, or Natasha could get him without also hurting Steve. "We need Wanda, where's Wanda," she asked.

"Wanda, Vision, and Col. Rhodes are on an extended mission in Uganda," FRIDAY reported.

Diana huffed under her breath. "C'mon, Bucky, don't do this," she pleaded with the screen.

In the common room, even under threat of asphyxiation, Steve was also pleading with him. "C'mon, Buck, you know me, it's Steve," he said. "Steve, your best friend, your brother. You know me."

"You are Captain America, enemy of my masters," the Winter Soldier said resolutely.

Steve managed to flip him over and slam him into a wall, holding him down. Pietro added his own strength to Steve's in holding down Bucky's arm. "But I am not your enemy," Steve replied, going almost nose to nose with him. "I am _not_ your enemy, Bucky."

Bucky suddenly went still and limp, and the spark returned to his eyes. "Steve?" he asked, confused. "What just happened?"

The two men let him go and stepped back cautiously. "You don't remember?" Pietro asked.

"No... last I knew, I was getting a cup of coffee..." Bucky paled. "Did I hurt anyone?"

"No," Steve assured him. "Everyone's fine."

"You don't remember anything?" Natasha pressed, coming closer.

Bucky shook his head fervently. "It's a blank." He looked down at his arm. "I do feel... there's something wrong with it."

"All right," Steve said, determined. "Natasha, alert the med wing and the bio tech department. Let's figure this out."

Diana met them in the med wing and held Steve's hand as they waited for the results of the tests to come back.

"Well," Dr. Cho said, coming out an hour later, "there's no sign of any programming now, so whatever it was, it was temporary. It might have just been a particularly bad flashback. You did say he'd specifically targeted you, Steve. That _was_ his last mission."

"And that's what he's been dreaming about lately," Diana muttered.

"I'd suggest rest and counseling for that part," Dr. Cho said. "As for the physiological aspect, bio tech is still looking at his arm."

There was a snarl and a shout, and then a huge crash. "Stay here," Steve ordered both Dr. Cho and Diana, and leapt into the med wing, followed by the others.

The Winter Soldier programming had reasserted itself, and he almost killed an engineer trying to escape from the wires and monitors he was hooked up to. Steve's quick reflexes caught him, and threw a right hook that knocked him clean out.

"Did you get that brainwave spike?" one of the doctors asked, calling up the readings. "Here. They completely changed."

"Somewhere in his brain, the programming is trying to reassert itself," Natasha said grimly. "Steve, until we figure this out..."

Steve sighed heavily. "Yeah I know, Tasha. Sam, help me get him out of here." He looked at the engineers. "Figure this out."

They put Bucky in a holding room somewhere in the facility underground, and put his metal arm in a vise for good measure. It was industrial strength, for manufacturing and repairing quin-jets, and should be able to hold him.

"Did anyone get full scans of the arm?" Diana asked, hovering over the engineers.

"It looks like two of the systems have been modified since the last time he's been in for an exam," one of them said. "We'll have to check the arm's subroutines and neural programming."

"Is it possible someone could've tampered with his arm?" Natasha asked.

Diana paled. "The... when I was kidnapped... they had him, they'd tried to wipe him before Wanda's shields kicked in."

"Some sort of trojan virus in the arm's programming?" Natasha suggested.

"We'll work on it," the engineer promised, and looked at them meaningfully.

"Right," Natasha said, putting an arm around Diana and steering her out of the med wing.

"We should've known they wouldn't have given him up so easily," Diana whispered, miserable.

"You're right, we should've been more cautious. But now we can fix it and make sure it doesn't happen again," Natasha replied, squeezing her gently. "But in the meantime, we've got to let them do their jobs."

"If Tony were here-" Diana started.

Natasha's gaze darkened. "No."

"What do you mean?" Diana asked, frowning at her. "Out of anyone, he could fix it. It's his design."

"Maybe," Natasha said vaguely, "but not right now."

Diana thought back to the filter on the laptop, the phone calls he'd gotten, and frowned. "Natasha. Do you know what's going on?"

Natasha sighed. "I'd hoped this whole thing would blow over but I guess not." She led Diana to a sheltered corner. "The government isn't happy about what happened in Sokovia."

"Why not? We won."

"By decimating a small country in the process."

"What do they want?" Diana asked suspiciously.

"Control over the Avengers' movements."

"Like, complete control?"

Natasha nodded grimly.

"That's ridiculous. The Avengers are supposed to be saving the world, not just the US of A."

"I know that."

Diana's eyes narrowed. "But Tony wants to go along with it, doesn't he?"

Natasha's look said it all.

Diana huffed. "I can't believe that he'd-"

"You know what the public thinks, you've read the reports. They think we're vigilantes," Natasha said. "Tony just wants to make things right, after Ultron. He's scared of losing control. And you've got to admit between the team there's a lot of control that could be lost. The Hulk alone could be incredibly dangerous, not to mention the rest of us."

Diana sighed. "I know. I know. And he might be right. But there's no way we can let the most materialistic, militaristic government on the planet have that power over us." She shook her head. "What are we going to do, Tasha?"

"I don't know," Natasha admitted quietly. "But whatever happens, it can wait till Bucky's back to normal."

For the next few days, Bucky's condition wavered between normal and assassin-y. Half the time he was raving in Russian or German, swearing violently at Steve. The other half he was either unconscious or apologizing for his previous words. "I don't know what's wrong with me," he said miserably.

"I know Buck, I know, we'll figure it out," Steve promised. "They're working on it, right now."

"Don't let me hurt anyone," Bucky begged. "Please don't let me hurt anyone."

Steve nodded silently, his heart aching. He could _not_ lose his soulmate again. He turned to Sam, who'd appeared at his elbow. "Have the engineers got anything yet?"

"They've found the trojan virus in the arm's subroutines, but they're still working on wiping and reprogramming the thing, not to mention taking it apart to reinstall the subroutines and fix the busted components. It's gonna take time, is all."

Steve huffed. "Maybe Stark can-"

"Steve, you know he wouldn't help us. Maybe a few weeks ago, but now..." They'd heard about Tony's collaboration with the government through Diana and Natasha, and tensions were running high, literally waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Steve shook his head, frustrated. "Time is something I don't think we have right now, Sam."

Sam hesitated. "I think I think I might know a guy."

Steve gave him a look. "What guy?"

Sam huffed. "I really hoped you'd never find out about this, but..."

"Ant-man," Diana said in disbelief. "Like, an ant? Man? Man who is an ant? Or ant who is a man?"

"Definitely a human," Sam confirmed. "I saw him."

Pietro sniggered. "And got your butt handed to you. By an _ant_." He started laughing again.

"Yeah, yeah. He's got a suit, okay. The point being, I think he'd fit into the arm. He could just crawl in, crawl out, and done."

Steve nodded. "All right, let's find him."

It took them only half a day to find him. It took about ten minutes to convince Scott Lang to help them. "I'm a big fan of the Avengers," he said, reminding Diana of Coulson.

He showed them what he could do, took on both Steve and Pietro in a fight, impressing all of them, and called up a little army of ants, freaking the tarnation out of Natasha, who climbed up on a chair to escape them. "I've never liked ants," she said, scowling.

"They're so cute," Diana gushed, letting an ant crawl onto her finger. "That's so cool, Scott."

"So you'll scream if there's a spider in the bathroom but you're okay with floods of ants?" Steve asked skeptically.

Diana smirked. "I'm not the one who yelped when a spider fell onto the pillow."

"That was _one_ time," he protested, his cheeks turning red.

Scott dispersed the ants, sending them back outside, and they briefed him on his mission. "Climb in, install the software patch, spray some WD-40 on the gears, climb out," he confirmed. "I can do that."

The entire process took several hours, but finally Scott crawled out of the metal arm, reappeared in his normal size, and asked, "Can I have something to eat? I'm starved."

"Well?" Diana asked impatiently, following him into the kitchen.

"I'm pretty sure I did it," Scott confirmed, taking a drink of water. "We kind of have to wait for him to wake up, to make sure."

"I'll show you to a guest room," Pietro offered, and led him away.

"I'm going to check on the mission in Uganda," Natasha added.

"I'll go stand guard," Sam offered, having slept the entire "surgery."

That left Steve and Diana standing in the middle of the kitchen. "I'll make some coffee," she offered, going over to the counter.

Steve caught her waist. "Diana, wait." He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her neck gently. "Go to sleep. It's been a long few days."

"I can't," Diana fretted, "I'm so worried."

"I know," Steve said, pressing a kiss to her hair, "I know. Me too. But I'll wake you as soon as we know, okay?"

She nodded reluctantly. "As soon as you know?" she asked.

"I promise." He walked her to their apartment and kissed her at the door. "Go on and sleep, sweetheart."

He joined Sam in the holding room to watch Bucky. "Man, the reason I volunteered for watch, was so you and Diana could go to sleep," Sam said impatiently.

"I can't," Steve said, shaking his head. "I need to know. And I promised to tell Diana the second we know he's okay."

Sam shook his head. "Sometimes I'm really glad I don't have a soulmate. Y'all are way too co-dependent."

Steve gave him a wry smile. "I wouldn't change it for the world."

"I know man."

They stood in a comfortable silence, watching as Bucky slowly fought his way back to consciousness. He finally raised his head, eyes bleary.

"Buck?" Steve asked hopefully, "do you remember me?"

Bucky blinked at him a few times. "Your mom's name was Sarah," he said, his throat raspy from all the yelling. "You used to wear newspapers in your shoes. You got married to my other soulmate."

Steve grinned. "It worked."

"How's your arm feel, man?" Sam asked.

Bucky flexed his fingers, twisted his elbow as far as the vise would allow. "It feels fine. What'd you do?"

"We fixed it." Sam eyed him warily. "You feeling any homicidal tendencies?"

"No." Bucky scratched at the stubble on his chin. "Can I shave, now?"

Steve let out a laugh. "Yeah. Yeah, you can shave now." He released the vise and helped Bucky up from the floor.

Sam clapped his friend on the back. "Well, that was touching. I'm going to go hang out. Night."

Steve made sure Bucky would be okay by himself, set FRIDAY to watch out for him, and since Sam was standing guard in the hallway, Steve finally went to bed. Diana was asleep, the covers pulled up to her chin. "Diana," he whispered, sliding into bed next to her.

"Hm?" She woke up. "Bucky?"

"He's fine. It worked."

She gave him a brilliant smile and closed her eyes again. "Love you," she murmured.

"Love you too." He wrapped his arm around her tightly and kissed her cheek. Two seconds later, he was asleep.

They slept for fourteen hours straight, the stress from the last few days finally catching up to them, and when they finally re-joined the living in the common room, Bucky was still okay and Scott had been adopted into the Avengers family.

"Can we keep him?" Natasha asked jokingly.

"Actually, I think Ant-man would be a good addition to our team," Steve said seriously, nodding. "What do you think, Scott? You up to saving the world?"

"Uh, yeah, that'd be awesome."

"Good. Of course, there'll be a probation and training period first, just like we did with the twins."

Scott nodded. "I can totally do that."


	20. Chapter 20

**Spoilers for: Civil War. Also, Black Panther, and Underoos!**

It was two days of peace before the inevitable happened. The Avengers, all of them, were called to Washington DC for a meeting with the American government. Wanda, Vision, and Rhodey came back from Uganda, Tony came up from New York City, and Clint came back from the farm. And, Diana had insisted on coming along as well.

General Ross was conducting the briefing. "New York, Washington DC, Sokovia..."

"That's enough," Steve snapped, as Wanda's eyes flashed red with grief and Pietro's fists clenched.

"The point is," General Ross said, "the world sees you as vigilantes. And that's something we just can't have." He tossed a copy of the Sokovian Accords onto the table. "Hence, the superhero registration act."

The more General Ross talked about it, the lower Diana's jaw dropped in disbelief. Finally, the old windbag was finished, and pens were provided. There was space for every single superhero to sign over the control of their time, abilities, technology, and other resources to the American government. He looked at them expectantly.

Diana snatched the paper from Tony's hands. "Can we have a minute, General?" she asked, trying to put on her sweetest expression. "Just, among soulmates really quick."

"Of course," the general said, giving her a generous smile. He excused himself from the room, and the door clicked closed behind him.

Diana turned to the others. "All right," she said flatly. "Who's in favor of this thing?"

A few people hesitantly raised their hands. Tony, Vision, Rhodey, even Natasha. The ones who didn't glared at the ones who did. Tony opened his mouth to say something but Diana shushed him. "Wait," she said sternly. She flipped through the Accords, skimming the most important parts and reading the details of the registration act.

"This is ridiculous," she said, after a few silent moments. "There's only fifteen of you, and everyone knows who you _are_. There's no need to register you like, like, terrorists or something."

Tony couldn't keep silent any longer. "But if we gave the governments accountability, we could monitor everything, keep everything from getting out of hand..." He stood up suddenly, turning to the table. "We need to be put in check. Whatever form it takes, I'm up for it."

"It's not right!" Steve protested, getting to his feet as well. "You're talking about taking away a person's basic rights. We destroyed Project Insight because they were doing the same thing! Three years ago, the US government turned out to be neck deep in HYDRA! Same with all nations _in_ the UN. We're still weeding them out. Every time Bucky gets a flashback or we go on a mission, we're finding bits and pieces of HYDRA. And now you want us to give the governments responsible for this complete control of our resources? And what about the last time you wanted to monitor everything? We had to defeat Ultron! Who, as a reminder, almost _EXTERMINATED US_!"

"There has to be a way to make this right," Tony insisted. "Nobody can operate without rules!"

"That's rich, coming from you."

"Yeah, because I've seen what we're capable of without them."

"I will _not_ let anyone tell me who to save and who to let die."

"You can't save everyone, Cap."

"We can try."

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Sometimes, I want to punch you in your perfect teeth."

Steve glared at him. "Right now I think I want you to go ahead and try."

Diana got in between the two and physically shoved them back. "Stop! Just stop!" She glared at the others who were subtly choosing sides. "You want to be accountable to the government?" she asked angrily. "All right. Let's play that game. Here's what they're gonna say." She pointed at Iron Man. "You. Weapons trader, creator of Ultron, accomplice to attempted genocide. Sentenced to death." She pointed to Bucky. "You. Former Winter Soldier. Death penalty." She pointed at the super spies. "You two. Assassins. Death penalty." She pointed in the direction of the ocean. "Bruce. Monster. Death or exile." She pointed at the wonder twins. "Worked with Ultron, sided with Cap. Death penalty." She pointed at Vision. "You. Genocide. Death penalty." She turned to War Machine, Falcon, and Scott. "You two. Helped all these guys. Jail time." She turned to Steve. "And you. Traitor to the state. Death penalty." She turned to Tony, eyes brimming with tears. "There. There's your tally. Those are the consequences of your actions. You might get away with it siding with the government on this one, but they turned on _Captain_ America, they'll turn on you eventually." She snatched one of Natasha's guns off her hip and handed it to the suddenly pale Tony, wrapping his fingers around the handle. "Go ahead. Do it. Pick sides. Start a war." She lifted his hand and the gun to her chest and pressed it against her heart. "But if you do, kill me first. Because I don't want to watch you destroy each other. This way will be less painful for all of us."

The gun slipped from Tony's lifeless hand and clattered to the floor. "I don't want a war," he protested numbly. "It wouldn't come to that."

"I know you," she said solemnly. She turned to include Steve in her glance. "Both of you. Too stubborn for your own good, and too passionate to let it go or compromise. It _would_ come to that. And you all know it. I can see it in your eyes." She folded her arms and met their gazes one by one. "I'm your soulmate. I love you all more than anything in this universe. But I will walk away _from all of you_ if you choose to fight. I will _not_ watch my soulmates pick sides in a war no one can win."

There was a long, terrible moment of silence, and then Steve asked, "So what do we do?"

"Find a different option," Diana said firmly. "Because before being accountable to the rest of the world, you are all accountable to _me_."

"We won't fight," Steve promised, taking her hand.

"We'll find another way," Tony added, taking her other hand.

She squeezed their hands. "Thank you both."

"So, not to break up the moment, but what are we going to tell General Thunderbolt out there?" Rhodey asked.

Diana shook her head. "There's at least four geniuses in the room. We'll figure something out."

They ended up rambling about the bush, debating pros and cons and switching sides halfway through their arguments, and General Ross agreed to give them a one-day extension to make up their minds and sign the form. "One day and not a second more," he said firmly. "Dismissed."

They went back to the Avengers facility. "What do we do after our twenty-four hours are up?" Clint asked.

"Run for the hills," Pietro suggested.

Wanda rolled her eyes.

Steve's phone rang. He answered. "Hello? Sharon?" A pause. "What's happened?" His face went white. "I see. Thank you, I, yeah, I'll come. I'm sorry for your loss. Yeah." He hung up the phone and turned to Diana. "Peggy is," he took a deep breath, "Peggy's dead."

"Oh no, Steve..." She reached out to take his hand. "I'm sorry."

He shook his head. "No, it's, it's okay." He took a deep breath. "She's at peace now, before all of this goes to pot." He squared his shoulders. "The funeral is tomorrow." He looked at her uncertainly. "Will you come with me?"

She squeezed his hand. "Of course I will."

Natasha cleared her throat quietly. "The deadline, Cap?" she reminded him.

"You and Sam can deliver our answers," Steve replied. He turned to look at Tony, who'd gotten a call from Pepper.

Tony nodded. "I'm going to the funeral. We can stop by the Tower and I can get my black suit."

Steve nodded.

The three of them attended the funeral. Both Tony and Steve were pall-bearers, and during the speech Diana held Steve's hand while he put on his best stoic Captain America face. Bucky also attended, hiding in the shadows and in between the trees. He didn't remember Peggy Carter very much, but he knew what she'd meant to Steve, and to Tony.

As they were leaving, Diana linked her arms with both men. "I think she'd be proud of you both," she said softly.

"For standing up for what we know is right against an overwhelming force?" Tony asked, and smiled fondly. "Yeah. Sounds like something she'd do."

Their reminiscence was cut off as three black SUV's wheeled into the parking lot and surrounded them. Steve stiffened and pushed Diana behind him. An agent in SHIELD gear got out of the SUV. "Captain Rogers, Mr. Stark, you've been ordered to report to the World Security Council."

"What if we don't want to?" Tony asked snidely.

"Then we'll take you in by force."

"All right," Steve said calmly, grabbing Tony's arm before he could call the Iron Man suit. "We'll go."

"Not her," the SHIELD agent replied, pointing at Diana.

Diana stepped away. "I'll be fine," she assured Steve, giving him a look. She watched them get into the SUV, and watched Sharon Carter get taken in as well. She watched silently as the SUV's rolled out, and then turned to look at Bucky, who'd come up behind her. "Now what?"

"Now we report back to base and see what's going on," Bucky said.

She frowned. "Let me call Maria first." She dug out her cellphone and rang Hill directly. There was a silence, then, a faint,

"Oh, it's my cousin, let me talk to her." Maria's voice came over the phone. "Hi, Diana, how's things?"

"Great," Diana replied, realizing they were being listened to. "I just wanted to know if you were holding the family reunion at your place, or if we were all going somewhere else." AKA, was it safe to come back to the facility?

"Nope, not at my place," Maria said. "It's way too small, and my neighbors complain about all the parking in the streets." No, HQ's been taken over and none of the Avengers are here.

"Oh okay, I'll call Grandma Beth and ask her what arrangements we're making. Are you finally going to bring a boyfriend this year?" Should we meet you?

"Whatever," Maria scoffed. "Talk to you later." No, I'll contact you later.

"Bye." Diana hung up and turned to Bucky. "We can't go back to base. We've gotta go somewhere else."

Bucky nodded. "Let's get out of DC. There's too many organizations here."

"Okay. Where are we going?"

"I might know a place in New York," Bucky said, picking a piece of paper out of Diana's pocket. He showed it to her - an address. "Tony slipped it in your pocket as they were leaving."

"Oh."

The drive to New York was undertaken in mostly silence, punctuated only by the music on the radio. "How's your arm?" Diana asked, after a while.

"Fine."

"Do you have a plan?"

"Yep."

Diana nodded, and looked out the window.

The address Tony had given them was in Queens. It was a nice little house. "Do we just go up and knock?" Diana asked doubtfully.

Bucky shrugged. "You knock and I'll stand right behind you."

"All right, but don't look so scowly." She straightened her dress, put her shoes back on, and walked up the steps with Bucky at her heels. She knocked on the door.

A young man, maybe eighteen or nineteen, opened the door. "Yes?" he asked.

She gave him a smile. "Hi, we're looking for someone that might have been talking to our friend. He gave us your address. We need your help. I think."

"Who's your friend?" he asked suspiciously.

"Tony Stark."

The kid's eyes went wide. "Can you give me proof? Who are you?"

"I'm Diana Rogers, this is my friend James Barnes. We're with the Avengers."

"The Avengers?" He let out a squeak, blushed, and ushered them into the house. "You're Mr. Stark's soulmate, aren't you? His other one, that married Capt. Rogers?"

"Yes."

He turned to Bucky. "And you're Captain America's friend."

"Yes."

He swallowed hard. "Okay. Cool. Um, you guys want a coffee or something?"

"No, we're good, thanks. What's your name?" Diana asked pleasantly.

"Oh yeah. My name's Peter. Peter Parker."

Diana nodded. "Nice to meet you." She shared a glance with Bucky. "We need your help, Peter."

"With what?"

"Well we don't know exactly. The Avengers have been taken into custody by the government, our facility also, and we need a place to lay low."

Peter nodded. "You can stay here."

"What were you and Tony working on?" Diana asked. "I'm guessing you must be a really brilliant scientist or engineer to be working with him."

"Scientist," Peter offered. "And, uh," he lowered his voice, "I'm Spiderman."

Diana's jaw dropped. "You?"

"Yep."

"But you're just a kid. That's incredible."

Peter preened. "Thank you."

"Superheroes are just coming out of the woodworks, aren't they?" Bucky grumped. "I'll take a coffee now, if you've got some."

"Sure."

They had coffee, Peter showed them his work on biotech and his mechanical web shooters, and Diana gave him a few anecdotes about Stark's explode-y experiments.

The TV was on, the volume low, playing the news, the entire time. Diana was describing what it was like being a soulmate to nine people, and then Bucky held out a hand, silencing her. "Turn it up," he ordered the younger man.

Peter turned up the volume, and they all stared at the small TV screen as the top floors of the UN building in Washington DC blew up, shattering windows and releasing a bloom of smoke.

"Officials are calling it a strike by the Winter Soldier," one of the reporters said on TV. "If this really is, then the question is, where are the Avengers to deal with this threat?"

"It wasn't me," Bucky said, startled. "I was at the funeral with you, and then here."

"I know, Bucky," Diana said, patting his knee comfortingly.

"So who set you up?" Peter asked.

"HYDRA, probably," Bucky replied, jaw tightening. "They must have known the trojan virus didn't work so they're trying something else, trying to draw public opinion against the Avengers-"

The home phone on the counter rang. Peter picked it up. "Hello?" He handed Diana the phone. "It's for you."

"Hello?"

"Diana." It was Steve. He sounded harried. "The government thinks Bucky has blown up the UN building, they're sending units after him. Tony says they're probably tracing the car, so you have to leave it and meet us outside of DC, the Walmart parking lot off the freeway. Where are you right now?"

"With Peter Parker. What are you guys doing?" Diana asked suspiciously.

There was a clang and another thump, and what sounded like gunfire. "Uh... breaking out of the World Security Council once we get our gear."

"All right. See you in a bit."

"Oh, and tell Bucky you three need to go off the grid." He hung up.

Diana turned to the boys. "I'm assuming you both heard that with your annoyingly accurate hearing?"

Peter grinned. "I've never worked with a team before."

"Yeah, it's going to be great." Bucky used his metal arm to crush first his cell phone and then Diana's. "Do you have a car?" he asked Peter, snatching the boy's cell phone out of his jacket pocket and crushing it as well.

"Uh, no." Peter was staring at the remnants of his cellphone. "That was new..."

"Stark'll make you another one. We'll have to steal a car." Bucky pulled a knife from his sleeve and handed it to Diana. "Keep this on you at all times. I'll be back in five minutes." He turned to Parker. "Get together a bag of necessities, whatever food you have in the house, first aid kit, blankets."

"Got it." He rushed off.

Diana made herself useful getting together all the food in the kitchen, and helped Peter shove it into the giant duffel bag he'd dug out from his closet. They saw Bucky pull up in front of the house in a perfectly nondescript silver sedan, and went outside. As soon as they were inside he peeled out of the neighborhood.

Bucky's driving was fast without being noticeable, and at that time of day there was virtually no traffic. In less than two hours they were in the Walmart parking lot, trying to be inconspicuous.

"There," Peter said, pointing out a minivan that came cruising into the lot. He started to snicker when the door opened and they saw all ten superheroes stuffed inside the eight-person van, armed to the teeth, all their gear on except for the two metal suits.

"Yeah, yeah, it's real funny," Rhodey griped, stuck sitting in between the impressive biceps of Steve and Clint.

Natasha slipped out of the driver's seat and calmly walked off to steal another car.

"Bucky," Steve said, nodding at him.

Bucky turned to go find another car.

"Make sure it's a van," Clint called after him.

Diana eyed her soulmates worriedly. They looked mostly unharmed. "So what's the word?" she asked.

"They've seized all assets belong to Stark Industries and the Avengers facilities. Coulson is stalling them on letting them have New SHIELD, but there's only so much he can do without putting targets on his own people's backs, and right now they're the only ones who can guard against HYDRA." Steve gave her a wry grin. "Congratulations, Mrs. Rogers, you've become a traitor to the state via association with the Avengers. We're on the Most Wanted list, by the way."

"I've always wanted to start a rebellion," Diana replied dryly. "Never had the nerve to do it as a teenager."

"Didn't think I'd be doing it as a centenarian either." He looked at Peter. "You're Parker?"

"Yes sir. It's an honor to meet you, captain."

Steve nodded. "Same. Stark speaks highly of you."

Peter silently fanboyed.

Natasha pulled up to their location in a Honda Odyssey. "All right, who's riding with the cool kids?" she asked, smirking.

"Where's Buck?" Steve asked, turning to look around the parking lot.

"I got it, Cap." Pietro zoomed off and zoomed back a second later, his face pale. "There's a HYDRA team surrounding him, round the corner, led by a guy with a little skull on his uniform. He said something and knocked him out."

"What?" Suddenly weapons were out and they were making a protective formation. "Can you get him back here?"

"I'll try," Pietro said. He zoomed away and came back a second later. "He's up, and he's blank-eyed again. I think they did something to his brain."

Steve groaned. "Let's go."

"Steve, we don't have time-" Tony started.

"We are _not_ leaving without him," Steve said firmly. "Parker, stay with Diana. Widow, Stark, Falcon, Vision, you're with me. The rest of you, flanking positions. Wanda, we're going to need you to hold Bucky before he does something he'll regret."

They all acknowledged and ten seconds later they were attacked by the HYDRA team, which was larger than Pietro had seen.

Steve shielded Diana from a blast of gunfire and practically pushed her into Parker's arms. "Go!" he yelled, and met Bucky head-on.

Peter webbed the nearest HYDRA goon, ducked his charge behind a car, and they paused there. "Your soulmates are _awesome_ ," he said as they watched Widow take out two men simultaneously, and an arrow fly straight through the barrel of a gun poised to take her out.

"Yeah," Diana said proudly, and ducked when a shot whistled over her head. "This is a little close."

"A little," Peter agreed.

They dodged their way across the parking lot, War Machine covering their retreat before moving to get rid of a rocket launcher.

Diana watched anxiously as the HYDRA agents took what seemed like forever to go down. That left Bucky and the one called Crossbones against the entire team. This time though, the brainwashed assassin had all Bucky's knowledge of how his team fought, especially Steve. He blocked and parried and didn't hold back any of his punches. Diana was terrified for her husband, and so were the rest of the Avengers; no one could do anything without also injuring Steve. Plus, Crossbones was still shooting and throwing grenades in their faces, and two military choppers were speeding in, so...

"We've gotta go!" Hawkeye yelled, spotting the two missile launchers under the choppers. "Somebody separate 'em and let's get out of here."

Black Widow stepped up as second-in-command. "Wanda, zap 'em both. Vision, can't you laser gem this guy and get it over with? Everybody who can fly, pick up a partner and let's go. Pietro, soul."

"You!" a deep voice shouted.

Everyone's heads whipped to look at the newcomer, and they all froze. It was a tall, strong man, almost on par with Steve, wearing a black fitted suit and with honest to goodness _claws_ on his gloves.

"I taut I taw a putty-tat," Peter said, after a second of stunned silence, and Pietro snorted.

Time snapped back into action, and everything went chaotic. Crossbones snapped out an order in Russian and fled.

Bucky knocked Steve to the ground and lit out in the opposite direction. The black-suited figure raced after him. Steve flipped up from the ground, grabbed his shield, and followed.

Natasha was the first to snap out of it. "Vision, follow and observe," Natasha ordered. "Everyone else, move it."

"Wait," Diana started, sick with fear, but she'd already been picked up by Pietro.

"They'll be fine," he murmured into her ear as the landscape blurred around them. He turned her face to his shoulder to save her from the wind.

They finally slowed somewhere on the outskirts of a small town. Iron Man, Falcon, and War Machine all dropped down next to them, dumping their passengers Black Widow, Spiderman, and Hawkeye, respectively. Wanda dropped down gracefully beside them a moment later. She had a tiny Scott on her shoulder.

"Where are we?" Diana asked, still dizzy. It was also very cold.

"Somewhere north of DC?" Pietro said, shrugging.

"Maryland," Tony said, letting the helmet fold back. He tapped his comm. "Vision, update on the chase?"

"Captain Rogers has caught up to Barnes and they are fighting again." There was a screech of metal. "I am currently engaged in combat with the Black Panther."

Tony looked startled. "The Black Panther?"

"That's what he called himself," Vision confirmed, "and his claws are made of vibranium."

"What does he want?" Tony asked.

"Something HYDRA stole, I believe," Vision said, and there was a thunk.

Tony put his helmet back on. "I'm going to go talk to him. If it's who I think it is, he'll be on our side. Get to the border, we'll meet you." And he was gone, a tiny streak of vapor in the atmosphere.

"So we're seriously going to Canada," Diana said.

"That's the plan," Rhodey said.

She turned to Clint. "Laura and the kids?" she asked anxiously.

"Are already in Montreal. I saw this coming." He gave a sidelong glance to Pietro, who rolled his eyes.

"You're never going to let that go, are you?" the speedster asked.

"Nope."

Natasha sighed. "We need a car."

Wanda gestured for silence. She closed her eyes and raised her hands. Red energy trailed away from her and into the trees. A few seconds later, an Expedition floated over the trees and onto the ground in front of them, settling with a 'thump.'

"Nice," Scott said, grinning. He made himself ant-sized and crawled into the keyhole. The doors popped open a few seconds later.

"I call shotgun," Sam said quickly.

" _You're_ driving," Natasha corrected. " _I_ call shotgun."

"Bucky come on, you know me," Steve pleaded, dodging a punch to the face and pinning him to the ground.

Behind him, Vision and the Black Panther were circling each other warily, Vision preventing the stranger from coming any closer.

"T'Challa!" Tony called, landing his Iron Man suit in the center of the stand-off.

Black Panther eased up slightly. "Stark."

"Hi." Tony flipped up the faceplate. "This is Vision, my friend and fellow superhero. Don't hit him. What are you doing out of Wakanda?"

"HYDRA took something from my country," T'Challa replied. "I come seeking the knowledge they took and retribution for my people that they killed."

"All right, cool, but don't kill that guy." Tony pointed at Bucky. "He's one of ours."

"Are you sure?" T'Challa asked dryly. "He's killing your friend."

"For your information, I could do this all day," Steve called, blocking a punch with his shield.

"It's a long story," Tony replied, waving a hand. "How about you help us knock that guy out and we can help you?" He gestured to the busy roadways. "Although, somewhere not in the middle of DC because the government's after us."

T'Challa eyed them warily and nodded. "Very well."

Between the three of them they knocked out Bucky - "people from the forties have thick skulls, thank goodness" - picked up an unconscious Steve - "you've gained weight since you got hitched, Cap" - and headed out.

By the time they reached the others, still a few hours out from the border, Steve's wounds had mostly healed, they'd had to knock Bucky out three more times, and T'Challa was now fully on their side, if a bit eager to interrogate the Winter Soldier.

"Steve!" Diana ran to his side and put her hands on his cheeks. "Are you all right?"

"Mostly," he replied, wincing slightly as he stood to his full height.

She kissed him lightly on the cheek and let him go confer with Natasha and Tony. She went over to Bucky and looked him over. He seemed okay. He was muttering, starting to come out of it. They'd have to knock him out again.

Black Panther stood in front of her. She moved to shield Bucky from him and the Wakandan scowled. "Move aside, young lady," he ordered in smooth, educated English.

"I don't take orders from homicidal kings," she retorted, glaring back at him.

He looked surprised, and then offered her a brief smile before stepping backwards slightly to give a non-threatening air. "And you are, Miss?" he asked politely.

"Mrs. Diana Rogers."

"T'Challa, king of Wakanda."

"Nice to meet you."

Clint was the one who noticed their awkward exchange and walked over to sling an arm around Diana's shoulders. "So soulmate of mine," he started, giving T'Challa a warning glare.

"You are soulmates with him as well?" T'Challa asked, surprised.

"Yes. Uh, almost everyone here."

"Including that one?" He pointed to Bucky.

"Him too. Right now he's under some sort of brainwashing. We're fixing it."

"Let's go," Steve called.

She went over and he helped her into the car before getting in himself. She looked around and couldn't help but giggle.

"What?" Steve asked, smiling.

She snickered again. "A car full of heroes... I keep expecting there to be some campy, road trip soundtrack." She was sitting in the middle with Steve and Clint on either side. Wanda, Peter, and Black Panther were in the back. Sam was driving, Natasha was in the passenger seat. Scott was tiny, sitting on Clint's bow, and the two suits, Vision, and Pietro were keeping pace with the car.

Peter talked and asked questions until they threatened to make him ride outside the car, webbed to the roof. He subsided, then, and promptly asleep.

"How are we going to actually cross the border?" Diana asked drowsily. It was dark and she was falling asleep, curled into Steve's side.

Natasha smirked. "We're going to fly over it."

"Like, they're literally going to pick us up and fly us over?" Diana asked.

"That's the plan," Steve affirmed.

"Cool." Diana closed her eyes and buried her face into Steve's jacket.

T'Challa raised an eyebrow. "She's quite well-adjusted to the madness of it all," he observed quietly.

Clint laughed. "The only thing that freaks her out is Steve getting injured, and spiders."

"I'm offended by that," Peter mumbled half-asleep.

"Shut up and go to sleep, kiddo," Clint said kindly.

"Yes bird," he muttered. "I mean, sir. Sir. Yes, sir." He conked out again.

Both of them woke up during the border crossing, and Diana watched in amazement as the American/Canadian border passed underneath them.

After that, more driving. Everyone took turns, and whoever drove controlled the radio. Except for the impending doom, it was all just a crowded road trip.

Finally, they reached a long drive, and kept driving, and driving, into the woods. "Wait a second," Diana said, eyes widening, "is this the safehouse from the-"

"Yep," Natasha said, grinning. "It actually belongs to a friend of ours-"

"Friend," Clint snorted, and she smacked him.

"Who'll show up pretty soon to check on us since we're showing up uninvited to his safe house." Natasha pulled into the driveway.

"It's kind of small," Clint said doubtfully.

Steve smirked. "Not everyone can have a giant two story farmhouse and two barns, Barton."

"We're going to have to double up," Diana said.

"I do not share rooms," T'Challa said firmly.

"You do in this team," Diana said, equally firm. "At least half of us are sleeping in the living room, anyway."

They piled out of the Expedition gratefully and Pietro collapsed on the porch, exhausted. "Keeping pace with cars is too hard," he complained. "They're far too slow."

"Well if _someone_ had grabbed a jet," Natasha started.

"They were shooting at us!" Sam said defensively. "We didn't have armor!"

"All right," Steve said, effectively cutting through the cranky squabbling. "Let's check out the house and set up a sentry rotation before we sleep."

"Yes, sleep," Peter cheered.

"You slept the whole way here," Rhodey said in disbelief, "how can you still be tired?"

"I'm a teenager," Peter replied. "You all might have forgotten what being a teenager feels like, but it's exhausting."

Tony rolled his eyes. "You know what's exhausting? Fighting your own government and flying away to Canada for fifteen hours straight. I could've been here in like half an hour."

"Yes, yes, we're all very impressive," Diana interrupted. "The next words out of someone's mouth better be, I'm making dinner."

"Pietro," Wanda ordered.

"I'm older than you," he said.

She smirked. "Go."

"Yes, yes, I'm going." He zipped off and by the time everyone had pulled off their armor/suits/weapons a few minutes later, they could smell food cooking.

Vision heaved the unconscious Barnes over his shoulder. "Is there a secure location we can put him in?" he asked.

"Basement, reinforced bunker," Natasha said.

Vision headed off.

Steve frowned after him.

Diana touched his cheek, made him face her. "Steve. We'll figure it out, I promise."

He nodded, still frowning. "I know."

"Food first," Natasha said, dragging both of them into the kitchen.

They scattered throughout the house to eat their pasta, and then started the shower procession. The hot water ran out after the first shower, something Clint found out as soon as he got in the shower. "Ahhhh, that's _really_ cold," he yelled, gritting his teeth and hurrying through his shower.

Diana made sure everyone showered first, and then she took a quick shower. The water was ice cold, but she ignored it and let the water roll over her head, thinking about the day's events. They were literally exiled to Canada, declared traitors to America, one of her soulmates had been brainwashed, and they'd picked up two new allies. All in one day. How were they going to fix that? Because it wasn't just America's government that was the problem, it was the World Security Council demanding control, it was the UN where the Avengers operated. How would they take on the entire world? An alien fleet was one thing, but their own planet? That was a little much, even for a team of superheroes...

A gentle knock on the door roused her from her musings. "Diana?" Steve asked. "You okay in there?"

She realized she'd been in the shower for over twenty minutes, and she was _freezing_. "Yeah, yeah, m'fine," she replied, her teeth chattering. She finished rinsing off and turned off the water. She pulled back the shower curtain and found Steve standing there, holding a towel. "Hi?"

He wrapped the towel around her and tugged her into his arms, rubbing her back lightly. "Why did you stay so long in the shower?" he asked gently. "Your lips are blue."

She shook her head. "I was thinking."

"Yeah?" He tilted her head up to look at him.

"I'm worried," she said. "The whole world is literally against us."

He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Not the whole world. Just most of it." He wrapped his arms around her tightly and repeated her earlier words to him. "We'll figure it out. I promise."

"Yeah." She closed her eyes.

"Don't fall asleep on me," he said worriedly. "You need to put on some warm clothes."

She pulled on a pair of sweats and a pullover hoodie. "Wait, clothes?" she asked, halfway through pulling on socks. "Where did we get clothes?"

"Pietro ran and got some at the nearest town," Steve replied.

"He didn't steal them, did he?"

"No, we paid. Stark had cash stashed in his suit. Five thousand dollars."

"Of course," Diana said wryly. "What are the sleeping arrangements?"

"Sleep where you drop," Steve replied, as they stepped over a slumbering Rhodey in the hallway. "Literally."

Wanda and Pietro were sharing a sofa, Natasha was on the armchair, Tony was asleep on the rug in front of the fireplace, and everyone else was scattered on the floor throughout the house.

"And the bedroom?" Diana asked.

"Since we're the married couple, they let us have it," Steve said, smirking.

She laughed. "That's nice of them." She crawled under the covers and curled into his side with a yawn. "If any of them are expecting an eyeful though, they're going to be disappointed."

Steve kissed her lovingly. "Are you sure?"

She kissed him back. "Go to sleep, Captain Rogers."

He smirked. "Yes ma'am."


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Next installment of Civil War. It's the "breather" chapter, more Bucky's memories and pieces of the trailers...**

The next morning when Diana woke up, she found Steve already awake. He was staring at the ceiling, arms crossed under his head. He had a pained look on his face, and didn't even notice when she woke up. "Peggy?" Diana asked softly, putting a hand on his chest.

He startled a bit at her voice, but he nodded and sighed. "Yeah." He reached down to hug her close. "That's another link to my past, gone. But it's okay, you know? She had a full life, she was happy, she changed the world."

"She got to see you before she died," Diana added softly. "You both got closure."

"That's true." He heaved a sigh and kissed the top of her head. "Anyway. She wouldn't have wanted me to dwell. There's things to do."

"Yeah, like, put my socks back on," Diana said, digging under the blankets to find the socks she'd kicked off during the night.

Steve smirked. "Is that why I could feel little icicles digging into my calves at two in the morning?"

"It's Canada," Diana said, sniffing primly. "We could've gone to Mexico, but _no_ , we had to go to the frozen wasteland."

"Well, on par, Canada has less corrupt officials and less chance of alien invasions than Mexico," Steve said.

"Yeah, yeah. We should change your name to Captain Canada. Fighting for truth, justice, and maple syrup." She snickered at the affronted look on his face and left the room. Everyone else was up, mostly, sipping coffee, and there was a stranger sitting at the table. He had crazy hair and long sideburns, and a few days worth of scruff on his face. He eyed her curiously. She raised an eyebrow back at him.

"James?" Steve asked in disbelief, from behind her.

The man grinned and stood up. "Captain Rogers."

"Wait, James?" Clint asked. "I thought your name was Logan."

"It is now," Logan said with a shrug.

Steve nodded. "It's nice to see you again."

"You too, after all this time." He looked at Diana. "This is your soulmate?"

"This is my wife, yes," Steve said proudly.

"Nice to meet you," she said. "Thanks for letting us borrow your safehouse." Diana gave him a small smile and turned to steal Sam's coffee. He relinquished it with a sigh.

"So. You've all made a mess of things," Logan said conversationally. "None of us can go to the US safely until you fix it. Everybody in Hell's Kitchen headed for Niagara Falls and the Prof's locked down the school."

"Are they going to be all right there?" Steve asked, worried.

"They'll have to be," Logan said. He looked at Steve. "So, Star Splangled Man, what's the plan?"

"I have no idea," Steve said honestly. "My first priority was getting everyone out safely and making sure Bucky didn't hurt anyone."

"He's here too?" Logan asked, surprised.

"He's in the basement," Scott said. "Long story."

"Huh."

After breakfast, which was almost literally all the rest of the food in the house, the team scattered. Pietro and Clint to buy provisions and check up on Laura and the kids.

"We're going to need computer stuff," Tony said. "We can't make a plan without knowing what's actually going on, and with SI assets impounded, I can't trust the access from my suit."

Steve nodded. "I'm assuming there's no internet here?"

Logan scoffed. "What do you think?"

"All right. Tony, give a list to Natasha, Peter, and Scott, they'll go get it."

Tony huffed. "Just let me go get it, it'll be faster."

" _You_ have the most recognizable face out of all of us, you're staying here," Steve said firmly.

"Good point," Tony said. "C'mon, tech support." He threw his arm over Peter's shoulders and the four of them went out.

"Rhodey, if you and Sam can reach out to your military contacts," Steve continued. "This thing is being spearheaded by General Ross, but we need to know how much support he actually has, how many people actually agree with him."

"What if they all do?" Rhodes asked.

"Then at least we'll know," Steve replied evenly. "Vision, you and T'Challa work on weapons and guard duty. Even if this is the middle of nowhere we've got to be careful. Logan, are you staying?"

"Nope. Too many people," was the succinct reply. He picked up his jacket from the chair. "Let me know when you've got a plan and I'll be there." He left, pulling on his jacket as he disappeared into the trees.

"What school?" Diana asked.

Tony called out from the other room. "School for mutants. They were supposed to have been registered, too, but nobody went for it."

"I wonder _why_ ," Diana called back sarcastically.

The shopping team left, and Tony went to join Vision and T'Challa for a perimeter sweep.

Steve looked at Wanda and Diana. "All right. Let's go see Bucky."

They went down to the basement. Bucky was sitting in the very center of the fortified room, his posture slack but watchful. He snapped his gaze towards them and tracked their movements. There was no trace of recognition in his eyes.

"Hey, Bucky," Steve said softly.

There was no reaction. He simply looked at them.

Diana stepped around Steve and moved forward slightly. "Bucky, hi. I'm Diana, your soulmate."

No reaction. He just looked at her. He seemed lost.

She stepped closer. "I'm your soulmate," she repeated. "Do you know what that means?" She pulled the sleeve of her sweatshirt down, showing him the words written on her skin. "These are your words. Do you remember?"

He looked a little wary, now, but didn't move. She took a step closer.

"Diana," Steve warned, scared for them both.

Bucky's eyes snapped back to Steve.

"No, shh, it's fine," Diana said, drawing Bucky's attention back to herself. "It's fine. We're soulmates, Buck. You and me and Steve." She slowly knelt in front of him, her heart hammering with tension. You see these words, Bucky? You've got a matching set. The first words I said to you, remember?" She carefully reached out to him.

He flinched but didn't move.

She held still for a second and then slowly, gently, lifted his shirt, exposing the words written across his waist. "See, Bucky?" she asked quietly. "That's me, my words."

He looked at the two sets of words, blinked, and wrapped his metal hand around her throat before anyone could react. He didn't say a word.

Diana stifled a yelp and held absolutely still. He was only holding, not squeezing. There was only the slightest pressure on her neck. "It's okay," she said aloud, mainly for Steve and Wanda's benefit. Steve looked like he was either going to pass out or throw up. "It's okay. You won't hurt me Bucky, it's okay."

He growled out a question in Russian, still looking terribly lost.

"He wants orders," Steve said, after a second. "Wanda, I thought we removed his triggers and programming."

"The mind is not like a suitcase you unpack, it's more like a, a Chinese puzzle box," Wanda said, frustrated. "Whatever they said to him must've triggered a very deep, but basic layer of programming. From what I can sense, it's simply blocking everything out."

"Can you break it?" Steve asked.

"I can try. But Diana..."

Diana looked at Bucky, touched his metal arm. "Can you let me go, Buck? Please?"

He merely looked at her and repeated his request for orders.

"Release the woman and standby," Natasha ordered, entering the room. She repeated it in terse Russian.

Bucky withdrew his hand from Diana's neck so quickly it made her dizzy. He fixed his gaze on a spot on the floor, and didn't move.

She stood up slowly and backed away to where the others were standing. Steve grabbed her in a fierce embrace and she leaned against his chest, starting to tremble from the effects of shock and sorrow.

Steve gently guided her out of the room and the four of them went back up the stairs. He kept her close to his side. "Nat, what do you know?" he asked.

"I found the parking lot surveillance from the fight," she replied. "Rumlow spoke one word. Couldn't tell what word it was, but when I was in the Red Room, the Winter Soldier... he was hired, for a job, but he went rogue. Unstable. They mentioned that there was a keyword to put him back to a blank slate till they could wipe him again. I'm guessing that's what it was. For now, he'll only respond to orders in Russian or German and won't hurt anyone until he's ordered to." She touched Steve's arm gently. "He's still in there, though. It'll be okay."

Steve nodded, forcing concern for his brother-soulmate down, like a rung on a rubber ladder. "Wanda, do your thing."

The young woman nodded. "Diana, can you come with me? Your soulmate bond to him, and to me, will help me find him through the block."

Diana stepped away from Steve shakily. "Yeah." She cleared her throat.

"No," Steve said instantly. "Wanda, can you do it with me instead?"

"Diana's easier to read with our soulmate bond," Wanda replied.

"Steve." Diana put her hand on his arm and reached up to kiss his cheek. "I'm fine."

"You're shaking."

She gave him a small smile. "But I can help him. I'll be with Wanda, you two are just up the stairs. It'll be fine."

Steve let her go reluctantly. "All right."

The two women walked down the steps. Wanda paused outside the door, taking a deep breath, focusing her powers.

"You need a minute?" Diana asked.

"Just," Wanda held out a hand.

Diana squeezed her hand tightly, and put her other hand on Wanda's cheek. "Focus," she said gently. "We'll take this at your pace, your strength. Nothing to worry about."

Wanda nodded. "I'm good."

Bucky looked up when they entered, registered them as a non-threat, and went back to staring at the floor.

"Bucky?" Diana said, sitting down on the floor across from him. "Hi. We're going to help you get your memory back, okay?"

He squinted at her. "Why?" he asked in quiet Russian.

So he understood. "Because you're my soulmate and my friend, our family. You're Steve's soulmate too, you remember him, he's the tall blond, hot one. I can say that, we're married."

The corner of his mouth twitched upwards but he still looked wary. "Why?"

"Why is he good looking? Good genes, I guess." She gave him a little smirk.

"Orders?" he asked.

"No orders," she said gently. "No one here is going to give you any orders."

He looked panicked.

"No, shh, it's okay," she said, reaching out to touch his forearm. "We're going to give you something different. Your memories. Your choices. That's all. We're not going to hurt you, or make you do anything you don't want to, okay?"

He gave a nod.

"All right, good, I'm glad." She squeezed his arm lightly. "Can Wanda, this is Wanda, can Wanda touch your temple? Is that okay?"

Another nod.

Wanda sat across from him. "Hello Bucky," she said softly. She touched his temple lightly and he felt the slight spark.

He jumped, but he was held steady by Diana's gentle hold.

Diana smiled at him reassuringly. "It's okay, she's special. Just keep looking at me. Your brain will feel funny but your memories will start to come back, okay? Just, talk to me, tell me whatever you remember, okay?"

Another nod, and his eyes went unfocused.

Diana glanced up at Wanda, who was concentrating hard, her eyes burning with energy. She looked back at Bucky. "Bucky? You remember anything? Maybe?"

"You were a four-year-old," he said distantly, his Brooklyn accent thickening as he spoke English. "Cute as a button and sharp as a tack, and you loved Steve even as a four-year-old."

She smiled, tears welling in her eyes. "Yeah. Yeah, you took care of us both, me and Stevie."

"He was a punk," Bucky continued, "he used to pick fights with all the bullies in the area. The neighbor kid, the athletes, the Nazis..." He shuddered, pain twisting his features. "I, I fell, I remember, I fell off the train, Steve was, he was screaming, it _hurt_ ," his fists clenched, "it was so cold, I-"

"I know Buck, I know, I'm sorry," Diana said, wiping her eyes, "but they're just memories, they can't hurt you anymore, okay? You're right here with me. You're safe." She put her hand over his fist. "Try to remember something else."

He turned his fist to grip her hand. "Can't." His grip was near-bruising but she ignored it.

"Yes you can," she encouraged. "Tell me about Steve, growing up."

"He was always sick, asthma."

"Yeah. What else?"

"Color blind. His mom always had to pick his clothes. When she died, I did it." He blinked. "I was a sniper. Am. Am a sniper. I, I killed people." He looked at her, eyes haunted. "Do I still do that? I can't remember."

She squeezed his hand. "No Bucky, you don't. Not if there's another way. You _save_ people. You're a hero."

"But I-" he gripped his head. "Agh, it hurts." He looked up at her. "Can I, can I make a choice?"

She gave him a soft smile. "Yeah, Bucky, you can choose. What do you need?"

"I need to remember all this. I need, to write this down." His other hand flex unconsciously. "I can't forget, not again."

"All right Bucky, no problem." She raised her voice slightly, knowing Steve was probably hovering outside the hallway. "Can we have a notebook and a pen?"

Steve came in a minute later with a composition book and a pen. "How's it going?" he asked.

Bucky couldn't meet his eye.

"We're okay," Diana answered for all of them. "Thank you, love."

He left reluctantly.

Bucky took the pen in trembling fingers and stared at the blank page. "I don't know," he said, bewildered.

Diana took the pen. "How about," she started, "how about you talk and I'll write? You can read it over my shoulder to make sure it's all there, okay?"

"Yes."

So Diana wrote. She wrote while Bucky talked and Wanda unlocked his memories, breaking apart the Chinese puzzle box they'd been stored in. She wrote until her hand cramped and then Bucky wrote. His letters were in Russian, though he muttered in English, and when his hand would start to shake Diana would take over again. They reached the end of the notebook an Steve brought them another one. They filled that one too.

Diana's butt had long since gone numb, and her hand that Bucky still held onto was definitely bruised. Her stomach had stopped grumbling a notebook ago, but her tears kept coming as Bucky remembered more and more of the things the Winter Soldier had done.

Wanda wasn't looking too good either - her eyes were bloodshot even while glowing, and the hand not connected to Bucky's mind had started to shake.

Bucky's voice was a dry rasp, his gaze fixed into the past, his hand still clenched over the anchor that was his soulmate.

Finally Wanda withdrew her hand. "I think that's it," she said, her voice hoarse from disuse. "Whatever programming he had left over it's gone. Including the ones I made last time."

"Thank you," Bucky whispered. He looked at Diana. "I'm not going to forget?"

"Never again," she promised.

He nodded slowly, and then collapsed with a quiet sigh, his body finally giving in to exhaustion. His grip slackened and Diana was able to pull her hand away.

She looked over at Wanda. The younger woman had already passed out as well. "Steve," Diana called, realizing just how tired she was. The last thing she saw was Pietro leaning over Wanda before she passed out.

"You started a war, Rogers."

"Well it's not like I _chose_ to do it."

A pause. "No, no good. You're defiant, go for bitter rebel teen." A brief 'ahem'. "You started a war, Rogers."

"St'v'?" Diana mumbled tiredly, not completely convinced she was awake. "Wha's goin' on?" She couldn't even open her eyes; they were at _least_ twenty pounds each.

There was a soft hand on her cheek. "Hey doll." A kiss to her forehead. "Just rest."

"M'tired."

"I know baby. You were awake for sixty hours straight with no breaks."

"B'cky? W'nda?" She had to know.

"They're both okay, still asleep." Another soft kiss. "Just rest, sweetheart. Everything's okay."

Diana didn't even register falling asleep again. The last thing she heard was "How did you ever sell war bonds Rogers? Your acting skills are crap." And she was out.

When she woke up the second time, there was a small hammock strung up in the corner and a pair of feet poking out of the side. "Peter?" she asked groggily.

A tousled head lifted up. "Diana! Good, you're awake." He popped out of the hammock and gave her a grin. "There's coffee." He left the room and closed the door.

Diana rolled out of bed and reached out to grab her hair tie. She pushed back the sleeves of her sweatshirt and froze. Her entire right hand was blue and purple, bruised from letting Bucky hold it. It _hurt_ trying to move it, and even her wrist was bruised. "Oh boy," she whispered, rolling her sleeves down again.

She showered and changed, mostly one-handed, into one of Steve's shirts and a pair of new sweats someone (probably Natasha) had left on the counter. She was glad the sleeves hung all the way down past her hands. She left the bedroom and found the living room turned into a high-tech war room. "How long was I asleep?" she asked, bewildered.

"Just one day," Tony said, ruffling her hair. "There's food I think, unless Roadrunner ate it all."

"Meep meep," came from down the hall.

Diana laughed and went to find breakfast. Sam and Rhodey were in the kitchen, oiling pieces of their suits. "Hey guys."

"You're awake," Sam said, surprised. "Wanda's still out."

"She did a lot more of the work," Diana replied, grabbing the last breakfast burrito. "How's the plan coming? _Is_ there a plan yet?"

They exchanged a glance. "Ask Steve," Sam said.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Okay." She folded a napkin around her burrito and went down to the basement. She found Steve and Bucky sitting on the floor talking quietly. Bucky was writing again.

"Hey, there you are," Steve said, extending a hand. He pulled her into his side. "How do you feel?"

"Decaffeinated."

Bucky smirked.

She gave him a sympathetic frown. "How are you feeling?"

"Normal-ish," he replied. "I, I remember everything mostly but," he held up the notebook, "just in case."

"Good. Make backups of your backups."

He hesitated. "I, uh, I'm sorry you had to hear all of that. What I've done, it's not,"

"Nice?" she finished.

"Yeah."

She smiled and reached out to touch his arm. "Bucky, it's fine. That's what soulmates are for. You don't have to be sorry."

He nodded, looking relieved.

Diana turned to Steve, who was smiling at them fondly. "You look more tired than I do," she said, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "I'm assuming there's a plan?"

Steve nodded and closed his eyes briefly as her fingers scratched at his scalp. "Yep. Plan."

"Good. Tell me everything."

He glanced at Bucky. "Let's go upstairs," he suggested. "Have a cup of coffee, show you the intel." He stood and gave her a hand up, tucking her hand into the crook of his arm.

"Such a gentleman," she sighed sappily for the benefit of Bucky, who snickered. As they went up the stairs she asked, "Is he okay to be alone?"

"He doesn't want to come up," Steve said softly. "He's scared he'll have a flashback and hurt someone."

"Oh."

Clint, Tony, and Tasha were in the living room when they came in. "Hey," Clint said, hugging Diana.

"The kids okay? Laura?"

"Everyone's fine," Clint said, with a frown. "Pietro wouldn't let go of Nate while we were there."

Diana frowned. "Are you frowning because Pietro stowed him away in his pocket or something?"

"No, no, that's not it."

Diana squinted at them suspiciously. "All right. Somebody start talking." She looked at her husband. "What is going on?"

"They've got Pepper," Tony blurted.

"What?"

"And Peter's Aunt Mae," Tasha continued, "and Scott's child and ex-wife."

Diana's eyes widened. "And my mom?" she asked. She read the answer in their faces. "They have my mom? Who specifically has them?"

"The American government masquerading as a concerned parent," Tony seethed. "We've seized your assets and your girlfriend because we don't want you to blow up the world without our say-so. Well guess what, Mr. Councilman…" he huffed angrily.

Natasha put a restraining hand on his shoulder. "There's a forty-eight hour deadline," she said, and gestured to the multiple screens. "But we've got a plan. We've hacked the satellites all over the world, targeting the US government specifically, to spy on them. We know who's for the registration, who's against it,"

"Who's who," Clint chimed in.

"And who's got what," Tony added.

"And who's got what where," Tasha finished.

"So basically we know everything," Steve said, rolling his eyes at the others. He handed Diana a cup of coffee.

She reached for it with her bad hand, stopped, and turned to grab it with her other hand.

Natasha saw the motion and frowned. "Why don't you roll your sleeves up?" she asked, reaching out.

"No, no, that's okay," Diana said, drawing back hastily. She flapped her hand weakly. "I can smack people with the floppy part."

Natasha squinted at her suspiciously but let it go.

"All right. Here's the plan," Steve said.

They explained the plan to her and Diana went to the bedroom to find her shoes. Natasha followed Diana into the bedroom. "Show me your hand."

Diana winced. "Are you going to freak out?"

"Not if you don't show it to me."

She pulled up her sleeve and showed it to Natasha.

Natasha winced in sympathy. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"There were slightly more important things to worry about, and if Bucky found out he'd hurt me…" Diana shook her head. "I don't want to do that to him. It was an accident."

"Not to mention Steve would blow a gasket," Natasha said drily. "Let's get this fixed up. You wouldn't believe how many first aid kits Clint and Pietro got." She wrapped Diana's hand and gave her an ice pack. "Just keep it in the floppy sleeve and nobody'll notice."

Diana nodded.

"Are you ready for this?" Natasha asked gently.

"Being the key to this whole thing?" Diana retorted. "You tell me. You guys decided on this plan."

"You're going to save the world," Natasha said confidently. "Just remember, chin up, shoulders back, and you keep eye contact with the cameras. We'll work on it on the way."

Diana took a deep breath. "Yep."

"All right. Good. Put your shoes on."


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Last part of Civil War. Short chapter just to finish up the plot and not leave you guys in suspense.**

It was the media frenzy of the decade. On the steps of Capitol Hill, on live international television, the Avengers were surrendering themselves to the US government. Some of them, at least. Iron Man in a three piece suit, Black Widow in her tactical suit, War Machine in full uniform, Vision and a young man in a cap and shades were coming up the steps of the courthouse to meet the leaders of the registration act and several members of the World Security Council.

It was Black Widow who spoke first. "We've come to surrender ourselves in favor of the Registration Act," she announced.

"Where's everyone else?" General Ross asked. "Captain Rogers?"

"They chose not to," the superspy said simply.

"And as a gesture of good faith," Stark said, gesturing to the teenager. "This is Peter Parker, a young man who believes in the registration act."

"Hey everyone," Peter said, taking off his cap and sunglasses and pulling on a red hood. He shot out a web and grabbed a mic from the reporters. "I'm Spider-Man." He tossed it back to them, and removed his mask.

Cameras were flashing now, and reporters were starting to murmur in front of the cameras.

"Where is Captain America?" General Ross asked. "Is he still harboring the fugitive known as the Winter Soldier?"

"Don't know, don't care," Stark replied flippantly. "Are we going to get this over with or what?"

"Why the change of heart?" General Ross pressed.

"I'm doing what has to be done before it turns into something much worse. Do you think any of us wanted to pick sides against people we saved the planet with?"

"Nevertheless you're here."

"Yes I am." Tony Stark, ever the showman, looked directly into the cameras. "You started a war, Rogers, one you can't win."

"You're right," came a strong voice from the crowd, and Cap dropped his disguise. "But not the war you think."

Everyone in the crowd went wild as he started walking toward the steps, shield in hand. The government officials started looking nervous at this point. General Ross had a constipated look on his face, and all the security for the event was on edge, expecting something to happen.

"This is a war," Cap said, "not against Tony Stark or those that sign the registration act, but against those that would seek to control the superhumans and the mutants, the inhumans and the enhanced, and make them perform to their tune. This is a war against people in positions of power who seek to control and shape the forces that no one has the right to control. The power of the Tesseract in the forties. Again, in the Battle of New York. The power of a person's right to choose, just three years ago in this same city when three helicarriers came crashing down. The power of humanity's will to survive, a year ago in Sokovia. We fought against the Nazis. We fought against aliens. We fought against HYDRA. We fought against the monsters of our own creation. And here we are again, fighting for our personal right to life and liberty and freedom of speech on American soil, against the same government who three years ago was riddled with HYDRA operatives, and still is today." He turned to face the cameras. "Don't you want to know the real power behind the American democracy?"

A shot rang out. Just one. A red bloom appeared on Captain America's uniform from the area around his heart. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. There was screaming, yelling, people on the steps scrambling for cover, and Captain America fell to the steps, his shield clattering away from him. Black Widow knelt beside him to check his pulse as the chaos mounted. The security forces were holding everyone back, and things were starting to get heated.

Natasha touched her earpiece discretely. "You got him, right?" she murmured.

"Shooter is neutralized," Agent 13's voice responded. "It was Rumlow." A brief pause. "How was my shot?"

"Dead-on," Natasha replied.

"Not freakin' funny," Diana chimed in over the comm quietly.

"It was a little funny," Clint said.

"That was my line," Coulson complained.

Natasha stood up and turned to Stark. "He's dead," she reported.

People really started to freak out then. "Who killed Captain America!" was the main shout.

"You want to know who it was?" Tony asked, taking the stage away from General Ross. "Allow me to introduce to you Brock Rumlow, aka Crossbones, a HYDRA agent masquerading as SHIELD until he became fulltime assassin and all around villain." He threw up a giant holographic screen on the facade of the building showing recorded footage from the top of a roof. "This was one minute ago."

Crossbones, kneeling at the window, sniper rifle trained on Captain America. "They know our plans, take the shot," came from a phone by his side. Thirty seconds later, Sharon Carter and Scott Lang burst into the room and took out the sniper. They replaced the bullets with something else and Agent 13 took the shot.

"A blank," Tony declared, "and a little bit of ketchup." He walked down the steps and offered his hand to Captain America.

Steve reached up and grabbed it, and pulled himself to his feet. "Surprise," he said cheerfully. He sobered. "Thanks to our little charade and excellent surveillance by the rest of the Avengers, all the HYDRA agents in this conspiracy gave away their positions and are now in our sights. It would be better for everyone if you all stand down. I repeat, stand down. We're done playing games."

One of the security men who had been on the STRIKE team previously began to draw his weapon. A red light appeared on his gun and half a second later it blew up in his hands. He raised his hands in surrender.

From the rooftop of a building two hundred meters away, Bucky smirked. He was unstable, he couldn't remember his first crush, but he was still one of the best snipers in the world.

"Nice shot," Clint said appreciatively, and shot out the weapon of someone in the crowd.

Down below, Tony and Steve returned to the top of the steps. Within the crowd, Wanda was standing in front holding everyone back from the steps. Pietro and Wolverine were circling amongst the people, picking out the HYDRA agents and delivering them to Coulson's team on the sidelines. T'Challa was guarding Diana, who was melting with nerves. In offices throughout DC, loyal New SHIELD agents were picking up bureaucrats who'd been bought by HYDRA. Rhodey had General Ross by the collar.

"Let's get on with the introductions," Cap said pleasantly. "General Thunderbolt Ross, the man spearheading the Registration Act. Let's look at the memo he's got for the fates of the Avengers. All superhumans, destroyed. Mutants, forcibly infected with the virus to remove their powers. Exoskeleton implements, retrofitted for the US military to- oh look, take over the Middle East and Russia. And all his supporters, who, frankly, are more Nazi-like than the Nazis themselves, and trust me, I've met a few."

"But who'd he get the memo from in the first place?" Tony asked, continuing the easy-going facade. "This, ladies and gentlemen, is the ringleader." He changed the hologram display. "Meet Baron Zemo. If any of you have interest in World War Two history, I'm sure you'll recognize him as one of Red Skull's team, also worked with Armin Zola, and when Zola was recruited to SHIELD-HYDRA, Baron Zemo came too. So guess what he's been doing for the last seventy years?" Pictures began to flash across the screen. "Terrorism, extortion, illegal experimentation, more terrorism, missions for HYDRA, more illegal experimentation... what do you think he would do with the Avengers if he could get his paws on them, as outlined in the details of the superhero registration act? Who here wants little bits of weaponized mutations in their drinking water? Or forced super-serum enhancements once you get drafted into the army? Anybody? Nobody? I didn't think so." He pointed to all the government officials standing on the steps. "All of these members of the government have taken bribes from HYDRA, have tried to use them to their own ends, have actually become part of HYDRA. There are more, in each country across the globe."

Cap spoke up. "So you can see why the Avengers refuse to sign the registration act. We will not be given orders by the same people who tried to destroy us. There will be no government control of the Avengers until HYDRA is defeated. At the moment, the safest hands are still our own."

"And like we said, that war's probably never going to be won," Tony added. "So. New deal."

"The gist of the act was right," Natasha said, standing next to them. Falcon landed from above and stood on Steve's other side. "Superheroes do need supervision."

"I mean look at all of us, we're weird. Half of us are geniuses, and the other half wear skintight suits," Sam said lightly, causing a few smirks among the audience.

"So what's going to happen?!" a reporter called out from the crowd.

Steve grinned slightly. "We're giving the final authority of the team to the one who's had it all along. The Avengers' soulmate."

T'Challa cleared a path for Diana with a few well-placed glares, and Diana, her heart beating like a trip-hammer, walked up the steps to join her soulmates. She was dressed for the occasion in black business slacks and a button down silk blouse, her hair clipped back from her face. Half her soulmarks were showing on her arms and through her blouse, the black ink through the white material. There was a very thin sheen of red surrounding her, if one tilted their head a certain way. Wanda was taking no chances with her soulmate's safety.

Diana finally reached the top of the steps and stood in between Tony and Steve. She gave a slight wave to the audience and the cameras. "Hello. That's me."

"From this point forward, Diana Lawrence will be the Head of Accountability," Tony continued. "She will coordinate the efforts of both the Avengers and New SHIELD, and whatever other superhero teams crop up."

"Isn't that biased?" another reporter shouted.

"Absolutely," Diana said firmly. "I am the soulmate of nine of the Avengers, and close friends with the rest. I want what's best for them: to come home without too many bruises and live to a ripe old age. You think I'll let them try anything stupid or world-ending? No way."

"Long story short, she is the only one we can trust," Steve said firmly. "And until that changes, Diana Lawrence will be the Head of Accountability."

"And really," Tony added, "who of you is going to tell us otherwise?"

There was a long silence and then a "Sounds good to me!"

Tony clapped his hands. "Cool. Everybody go home, we're done here."

"An actual press conference will take place in two days once all the dust settles and we're no longer traitors to the state." Captain America offered an arm to his wife, and the Avengers on the steps went into the building. The superheroes in the crowd melted away. Wolverine headed back to the school. And the New SHIELD operatives hauled away the HYDRA agents.

As soon as they were inside, Diana collapsed against Steve's chest. "I _really_ don't like public speaking," she groaned. Her hand came up against the red patch on his uniform and she frowned. "You're not hurt, right, this is just effects?" She prodded at his uniform, looking for a tear.

"It's just fake blood," Steve said, catching her hands, "I promise."

"Good." She turned to Tony and Black Widow. "Excellent job, you two." She hugged Tony. "Thank you for not turning this into a thing."

"What thing?" Tony asked expansively. He pulled out a gauntlet and his armor began to build around him. "Let's go get our loved ones back."

The high-security facility where everyone was being held was, against the combined forces of the Avengers, laughably easy to break into. They swept through the facility one level at a time, searching. On the third level they came to a series of small glass cells that looked very familiar.

"Hulk-proof rooms," Steve said grimly.

"Twelve of them," Clint said flatly. "I wonder who they were going to put in here."

T'Challa brought up the menu on the panel next to the nearest cell. "Occupant: Captain America. Hulk-proof plastic, electroshock built into the flooring, enough anesthezine gas to knock out a herd of elephants, and-" He pressed a button and a restraining rig came down from the ceiling. It looked like a medieval torture device.

"So this is what they were planning for us," Steve said, his expression neutral. "Good to know."

Tony looked a little sick. "I didn't know. I didn't think-"

"No you didn't," Bucky said sharply, "you were trying to cover your own mistakes, not looking out for your team."

"Each cell is equipped with the same set of features," Vision reported, scanning the cells, "except for two, which are equipped with neural blocking technology."

"So they would restrain us like dogs and turn off our minds," Wanda frowned.

Tony's face went another shade whiter. "I didn't know," he repeated.

Diana looked away from the cells and grabbed Steve's arm. "Let's get out of here. They're not here. Let's go."

Steve nodded. "Vision, can you..."

A beam of energy shot from the gem in his forehead and he sliced each of the cells in half, completely ripping up the machinery in the walls.

"Let's go," Steve said.

There was a large holding cell two levels down, and that's where they found Pepper, Maria Hill, Mrs. Lawrence, Aunt Mae, Cassie, and ex-Mrs. Lang.

"Mom," Diana said, hugging her mother tightly. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine dear," Mrs. Lawrence said, kissing her daughter's cheek.

"Anyone hurt?" Steve asked the group.

"No injuries," Hill reported.

Scott had his daughter in his arms and didn't look like he was ever going to let go. "Can we go now daddy?" Cassie whispered.

"Yeah sweet pea, we can go now," he replied, kissing her hair.

They retreated from the facility, and, in a spectacular fireball, blew it up. "That's something we'll have to mention at the press conference," Rhodey said. "I hope somebody got footage of the cell bit."

Tony half-held up a hand. "Me."

The group left DC completely and returned to Avengers Tower. Tony put the whole tower into lockdown as soon as the last person walked in the door.

"All right," Diana said, meeting their eyes, "We've got two days till the press conference. Everybody go to sleep and we'll iron out the details in the morning."

"Who wants dinner, actually?" Tony asked. "I want pizza."

"Pizzaaaaa," Peter said, following at Tony's heels.

"But first Steve, take that off, it's freaking everybody out," Sam said, pointing at his bloodstained jacket. "Seriously, dude."

"Sorry." Steve pulled the jacket off and tossed it over a chair.

"Much better," Diana said, patting his shoulder. She wrapped an arm around her mother's shoulders. "C'mon mom, let's go find pajamas."

"Can you set them up too?" Pepper asked, gesturing to the other two and a half guests who were staring at the aquarium in the corner. "I'd do it but-"

"No problem," Diana said gently. "Stick with Tony." She waved to the others. "All right. Let's go find showers and pajamas." She smiled at Cassie. "You like hot cocoa Cassie?"

"Yeah!"

"Good. You've never tried Captain America hot cocoa though have you?"

"Captain America makes hot cocoa?" the little girl asked.

"Yep. He's the best at it, almost as good as my mom." Diana led the way to the residential floors. "Maria, your regular room is ready for you. Cassie, you and your mom can have that room, okay? And Peter's Aunt Mae, you can have this next one. And mom, you can have this one. FRIDAY, the rooms are prepped right?"

"Yes Mrs. Rogers, and clothes have been provided."

"Thank you FRIDAY." Diana waved to the rooms. "Go ahead, shower, change into whatever's there. If I'm right by the time pizza gets here, everyone will be in their pajamas, so don't feel shy." She escorted her mom into the guest suite and sat on the edge of the bed, watching her mom pick through the clothes provided. "I didn't really ask, did I?" she asked quietly. "Are you okay, mom?"

"I'm fine dear, really," Mrs. Lawrence replied, giving her daughter a brief smile. "I wasn't hurt, only startled, and the two days we were being held were quite boring. Cassie's a dear though, she didn't complain once. She knew her father was coming to save her."

"And you knew, too, right?" Diana asked anxiously.

Mrs. Lawrence hugged her tightly. "Yes, sweetheart, I do believe in superheroes. You all did the right thing today. It'll be a while before anyone sees the government the same again."

Diana huffed. "As if. In a few years we'll have to do this whole thing again." She kissed her mom's cheek. "I'll let you shower. Do you want me to come get you when the pizza's here?"

"Yes, I still get lost in this place."

Diana smiled. "Yeah."

Half an hour later, Diana led the herd of civilians to the common floor, where stacks of pizza were waiting. She got herself two pieces of pepperoni and winked at Cassie when Steve started pouring cups of hot cocoa. "Didn't I tell you?" she asked, and Cassie giggled.

"What?" Steve asked, handing her a cup.

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Nothing, dear."

They ate rather quietly, as superhero dinners go, and then everyone started filtering off to bed. The only ones left in the common room were Tony, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Diana.

"So you saved the world again today," Diana said, after a long quiet moment.

"We," Tony corrected. "You helped."

"What, like twelve percent?" Diana asked, smirking.

Tony groaned. "I'm never gonna live that down, am I?" He muttered something under his breath and took a swig of his scotch.

"Language!" Natasha and Clint scolded in unison, smirking.

Steve groaned and Tony nearly spit out his drink laughing.

Diana laughed and leaned against Steve's shoulder. As long as they were still able to joke, everything was going to be fine.


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: Tail end of Civil War, resolving tidbits, etc. Also a ton of fluff and feels and character review. Enjoy!**

The next morning, the Avengers convened in a conference room. "So," Pietro said, "how are we going to sell this to the world?"

"By telling the truth," Steve said. "We want complete visibility."

"No secrets," Tony agreed.

FRIDAY spoke up. "Sir, Director Coulson is in the elevator."

The elevator dinged open to let Coulson in. He seemed tired but pleased, if the small smile on his lips was anything to go by. "Good morning, everyone," he said.

"Coffee?" Clint asked, standing up to pour a cup. He handed his former handler the mug. "So what's up?"

"I came to talk to the boss," Coulson said, and turned to Diana. "Hello, boss."

She saluted him with her coffee mug. "Hullo, Phil."

He sat down next to Natasha and Clint and looked at Tony and Steve. "Thanks to your little stunt, we've got public recognition again and lots more work to do. I'm not one to live in the spotlight. So." He pulled a USB out of his jacket and slid it across to Tony. "Here you are, Director Stark."

Tony stared at the USB as if it was a live snake. "What are you doing?" he asked. "What is this?"

"SHIELD." Coulson gestured to the USB. "Don't lose it."

"Wait, wait, can you _do_ that?" Tony asked. "I'm just a consultant."

"Not anymore. If Diana is going to be the head of accountability of the Avengers and SHIELD, one of you has to be the director of SHIELD. And considering half your employees are ex-SHIELD, this will be nothing."

"I don't even run my own company, you can't make me do this!" Tony complained, but he was eyeing the USB curiously.

"Just think, taking SHIELD in a new direction, aboveboard, no labyrinth of secrets," Natasha said, "leave the spy stuff to Coulson and myself..."

"You could upgrade _all_ the systems," Wanda said teasingly.

"All right, all right," Tony said, grabbing the USB and sticking it in his shirt pocket. "You may call me 'Director.'"

"Uh-huh," Diana said, rolling her eyes. "Doesn't he have to be sworn in or something?"

"Not really."

"Anyways," Steve said, "press conference."

They went over the possible questions, decided who was actually going to be up there (Diana, Steve, Tony, and Tasha), and Coulson joined them for lunch.

Diana went up to T'Challa, who was looking out the window over Manhattan. "Hey."

"Hello." He gave her a polite nod.

"You didn't really say if you were going to stick around or not."

T'Challa smirked. "I have what I came for. I don't know if I want to stay. It seems a bit chaotic around here. And I do have to run a country, you know."

Diana smiled slightly. "I forgot about that."

"You and your team have to come visit one day," T'Challa said. "When you're in the neighborhood saving the world, you should stop by."

"I don't get to go anywhere," Diana said, rolling her eyes. "I'm the stay-at-home-and-worry person."

"You're the one they come home to," T'Challa said softly. "The one they save the world for."

Diana smiled fondly. "Yeah. Do you have anyone?"

"My people in general."

"That's a good goal."

"Yes it is." He held out his hand. "It was a pleasure to work with you, Mrs. Rogers."

"Same." She shook his hand.

He gave her a final bow, and was gone.

The press conference was a nightmare. They wanted to know all about Diana's qualifications, her soulmate connections to each of the Avengers, her plan for accountability for both SHIELD and New Avengers, and the whereabouts of Bruce Banner.

"I will not reveal the location of Dr. Banner," Diana said firmly. "His privacy is his own. I _can_ tell you that he's safe and happy."

"What if we need him one day?"

"We'll put out an advertisement," Stark replied, giving the patented smirk.

"But you're not a superhero," one of the reporters called out to Diana.

"No I'm not," Diana said, giving them a smile. "I'm a regular person. That's my superpower, I suppose, to see things from the public's point of view."

"Have you ever been in danger because of your association with the Avengers?" another person called out.

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Not because of the Avengers, but because of the aliens and the organizations threatening the whole world, yes."

"So you have been in danger."

"Yes." Diana saw Steve's jaw tighten and reached over to hold his hand. "But as you can see, I'm perfectly fine."

"I believe someone had a question about political alliances," Tony said abruptly, drawing the attention towards himself.

As soon as the press conference was over, Diana made a beeline for the library. "FRIDAY, privacy mode please," she requested, pulling off her shoes and curling up in an armchair.

Silently the cameras turned off.

Diana stared into nothing for a long time, her mind too full to even think of anything specific. She didn't even hear the doors opening or feet walking, and when a pair of hands rested on her shoulders she flinched. She was halfway out of her chair before she realized that it was Steve.

"You scared me," she said, suddenly irrationally angry. The fact that she _knew_ she was irrationally angry only made her madder that she couldn't control herself.

'I'm sorry," Steve said simply, raising his hands in apology. "You all right, doll?"

"No!" she snapped. "Leave me alone."

The concerned look on Steve's face turned into that of a kicked puppy. "All right. Sorry to intrude." He started to back out.

She was instantly remorseful. "No, wait, Steve, I'm sorry." She held out a hand to stop him. "I didn't mean to snap, I just-" She huffed, tears pricking at her eyes.

His expression softened back into concern and he reached out for her. "Diana, love, what's wrong?"

"I don't _know_ ," she complained, squishing her face into the side of his chest, still irritated. She wasn't even soothed when he put his arms around her. "It's just, the press conference, and the stress, and Bucky, and _you_ and being traitors and Canada and then _not_ and Bucky, and you fake dying and you didn't even _ask_ me if I wanted this job and the press conference and SHIELD and this is the first calm day I've had and-" She was starting to hyperventilate from the panic.

Steve kissed her on the lips, effectively stopping her short breaths and her train of thought. Slowly he pulled away, his hand cupping her jaw. "Can you breathe for me?" he asked quietly. "Deep breaths, come on."

Shakily she followed his coaxing and calmed down. Instead of irritated, now she was just tired and teary-eyed. "I'm sorry," she said miserably, "just-" her breath hitched as he picked her up and sat on the armchair, tucking her against his side.

Steve smoothed her hair gently. "You've been worried for a long few weeks and it's finally calm enough for you to breathe and break down. Just relax." He pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Okay?"

A nod against his chest and a curl of fingers into his shirt was his only answer.

"Good." He kissed her head again, feeling more damp tears press into his shirt. "And, I am sorry we never actually asked you if you'd like to take on that much responsibility."

A brief squeeze of his arm. "Just please tell me next time I'm part of the plan," she whispered.

"Yes ma'am, always," he promised. He continued carding his fingers through her hair, letting her have a much-needed cry. Carrying the worries of ten people plus her own, he was glad she was finally letting go. "Do you want to go to bed?" he asked, once her breathing had slowed.

"Mmh."

He smiled slightly and stood up, easily carrying her up to the apartment. He pulled her shoes, jacket, and slacks off, and tucked her in.

"I love you," she murmured, barely able to keep her eyes open.

"I love you," he replied. "I'll be in the living room, okay?"

"Stay with me?" she asked, reaching out a hand.

He couldn't say no. He kicked off his shoes and jeans and got in bed, letting her curl into his side. He pressed a kiss to her forehead, noticing her face was warm from crying. "I'll stay," he assured her, resigning himself to two hours of staring at the ceiling. But in fifteen minutes he too was asleep, lulled by his soulmate's steady breaths.

He woke up a couple hours later, starving. He carefully pulled away from Diana and was tucking her in again to let her sleep, when he noticed the flush of fever on her cheeks. "Oh doll," he said softly. No wonder she'd been feeling awful.

He left to get her a glass of water and some Tylenol. "Diana." He shook her lightly. "Diana, sweetheart, wake up."

"What?" she asked, blinking up at him.

"You've got a fever, sweetheart, you need to take this." He helped her sit up.

"A fever?" she echoed, touching his forehead and then her own. "Yep, definitely, yep. The flu again." She took the pills and lay back down. "Steve?"

"Yeah?"

"I think this one's going to be a doozy." She fell asleep again.

Steve stared at her for a few moments to make sure she was asleep and still breathing, and quietly left the room. He found most of the others in the common room.

"Where's Diana?" Wanda asked. "Is she all right?"

Steve grimaced. "She's sick."

The three new Avenger soulmates panicked slightly. "Sick with what?" Pietro asked. "Is she going to be okay?"

"It's just the flu," Steve reassured them. "She'll just need lots of sleep and liquids."

Tony sneezed.

They all turned to look at him.

"What?" he asked, wide-eyed. "I'm fine. There's just, dust, or something..."

Predictably, by the next day he was completely wiped out with the same flu as Diana. Clint left the tower entirely to be with his family for a while and escape the bugs at the same time. The rest of the civilians went home as well, this time with security upgrades to their homes courtesy of SI. The net day Scott, Sam, and Rhodey all fell victim to the same flu.

All the invalids were packed into the common floor, each of them on a sofa bed, and the remaining Avengers took turns caring for them. In fact, Wanda was the only one who could get Tony to shut up and go to sleep.

Bruce and Dr. Cho developed a flu kicker, packed with vitamins, to take a couple days off their illness. Even then it was still bad.

"Two weeks," Tony croaked, poking fretfully at his tablet. "Two weeks and I still can't go an hour without work. I'm a Director, darnit, I'm not supposed to get _sick_."

"Sh'up," Rhodey grumbled from the next bed over.

Sam snored. He was enjoying the break, with nothing to do but sleep and watch TV, and trying not to puke.

Scott was reading electrical engineering papers in between dozing, and a large "Get Well Soon Daddy" card was on his side of the coffee table.

Diana was asleep. She'd been hit harder than the others and she'd resorted to audio-books, unable to keep her eyes open longer than ten minutes.

Steve came in to the sickroom bearing bowls of soup and cups of juice and mugs of tea. "How are you feeling Tony?" Steve asked.

"Dead," Tony said flatly.

"You're lively for a dead person," Steve said cheerfully, taking his tablet away and handing him a bowl of soup.

"Why are you so cheerful?" Tony groaned, taking the soup anyway. "Go away."

"Nah." Steve shook Rhodey's shoulder. "James, food."

Rhodey grunted, sat up, and gave a superhuman sneeze.

"Sam," Tony said, throwing a piece of chicken across the room. It hit Scott in the ear, and the poor man jolted half off the bed.

"Wha- wha-?" He glared at Tony and looked at Steve. "Can he be put in solitary confinement?"

Steve smiled. "Maybe later."

"How come Pepper didn't get sick at all?" Tony asked stuffing a piece of chicken in his mouth.

"Because Pepper's _awesome_ ," Rhodey said in between sniffles.

Diana ignored them all and pulled the blanket over her face.

Steve knelt beside her sofa and tugged the blanket away from her face. "You hungry?"

"No."

"Yes. Come on." He helped her sit up and gave her a bowl of chicken broth. "How do you feel?"

She let her head flop forward to rest against his chest. "Ugh."

He kissed her hair. "I brought you ice cream." He felt her smile against his shoulder. "If you eat your soup." He stifled a laugh when she huffed.

"Ice cream?" Tony piped up from across the room.

Once everyone was well again, life settled into a sort of routine. The Avengers removed to upstate New York again. Director Stark kept Coulson as his right hand man, and Captain Rogers kept Hill as the Avengers' handler. Hill and Coulson were the liaisons when Steve and Tony couldn't talk in person. And Diana split her time in between the New Avengers Facility and Avengers Tower, which Tony was thinking of renaming SHIELD HQ. Pepper promptly talked him out of it.

Diana coordinated and approved everyone's public appearances and worked closely with the PR department to make the media and the general public remember that superheroes are people, too.

Diana received daily reports about the Avengers' and SHIELD's missions. If she needed clarification about something she'd go to either HQ and get an updated report. From those, she'd compile a report to send to the UN on what the agenda was. It wasn't asking for permission; it was politely informing them what was going on.

Besides politicking her way through the days, Diana also kept a close eye on both R&D departments. There was quite a bit of crossover, and with geniuses around every corner you never know what was going to turn up. She put the absolute kibosh on AI development, though. "You literally cannot get any better than Vision," she said firmly. And that was that.

She was also keeping up with the emotional well-being of her soulmates. She spent time with her husband every day besides the eight hours of sleep (well four for Steve and eight for her - he did paperwork or sketched) and they tried to make ever Sunday night a date night.

Diana trained with Natasha every morning for an hour, and got her perspective on how certain missions would go. Besides work, they'd have girl's night with Wanda and Maria, and even Helen when she could pull herself out of the lab.

Clint brought Diana down to the farm once in a while, or he'd come up for missions, and they were always texting each other about the current TV shows.

Tony she saw a few days every week, and made sure he was sleeping, eating, and doing his paperwork in a timely-ish manner. She'd walked him through a few panic attacks since their first one, and besides Vision and Pepper, she was the only one he'd trust to help him talk about it.

She and Wanda were also sparring partners, and they would have long conversations about girl things, including how much Wanda missed her parents. Diana always reassured her that they'd be very proud of her.

Pietro was a little harder to pin down. He would accept her mothering and bossing around with sighs, but when he thought she wasn't looking he'd smile. He and Wanda were in the phase of exploring the country, now that they had it, and when Diana was getting a headache in her office Pietro would zoom in and say, "We are going to the Grand Canyon, want to come?" or "We got a pass to the Met, are you free?" and scoop her up.

And Vision, he and Diana bonded over books. He was still so naive, and he found the best way to learn about people and their motivations was to read. He could read a book in thirty seconds but still. Diana was thrilled to have a fellow bookworm, and she helped him understand what he found difficult.

"How can a person be happy and angry at the same time?"

She laughed and hugged him. "You've actually seen it before, remember?"

"Have I?"

"Yes you have. Remember when you all came home from a mission and Steve had jumped out of the jet without a 'chute?"

Vision nodded slowly. "And you were so happy you kissed him, and then you punched him in the arm?"

"Yes. Do you know why I did that?"

"You were happy because he had returned. And you were yelling at him about not caring about his safety."

"But I was happy first because he was there for me to yell at. Do you get it?"

"I believe so."

She smiled fondly at the memory. "And if you look at post-mission briefing there's a lot of that emotion that goes around."

"I realize that now." He frowned in contemplation. "I believe that was JARVIS's main reaction to Tony's antics."

Diana laughed. "Perpetually relieved and worried."

"Precisely."

And Bucky... their relationship was actually kind of strained. He was still figuring out his memories, and taking the time to process them. He relied on Steve to help him, but he refused to ask Diana for help. He didn't want to scare her with his memories even though she'd already heard his first two notebooks worth. It was completely illogical, but he was very good at sulking.

She missed both Bruce and Thor. Thor's hugs were second-best to Steve's, and she felt like she needed some interstellar perspective. And Bruce... he was happy, she could tell, but he was also hiding from the world and from his team, and that made him wistful. She wanted to find him and hug him, and bring him back to Tony and Peter so they could play madScience! together.

 **A/N pt 2: Anniversary chap coming soon...**

 **Also, thank you to everyone who's reviewed so far! To answer some reviewer's questions: Loki will be coming up in Ragnarok, which is a few chapters from now, and the possibility of children...well. Let Cap retire first and they'll think about it :)**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: Chap 24! Anniversary trip, so much fluff...**

Steve's body clock woke him precisely at six every morning. He gave himself five minutes to luxuriate in the warm blankets and plan his day, and then he'd roll carefully out of bed so as not to wake his wife. He'd change into gym clothes and meet Bucky, Pietro, and Sam to go running. If it was nice, they'd take the outside trail around the facility. If not, they'd each pick a treadmill in the gym. He would run for an hour and return to the apartment to turn on the coffeemaker and shower. Once he got out of the shower he'd make two cups of coffee and bring one to Diana. He would coax her awake using a combination of kisses and caffeine, and they'd have ten minutes of sleepy cuddling before Diana headed to the gym to train with Tasha and Wanda. He would go sometimes to cheer her on and check her progress, and after gym they'd have breakfast. Sometimes with others, sometimes alone. He would kiss her, and she would head to her office. Usually this was the part where Steve would check in with Hill for missions, but today...

"Why'd you call a meeting?" Pietro asked, as they all gathered.

"What's up?" Rhodey asked, entering.

"I need ideas," Steve explained. "Our one-year anniversary is coming up in two weeks and I'm drawing a blank."

Natasha smiled. "So it is. Does Diana remember it's coming up?"

"Probably. Could you and Wanda talk to her, ask her what she thinks I'm going to do?"

"I'll find out," Natasha promised.

"Thank you. In the meantime, ideas anyone?"

"The beach?"

"Been there," Steve said.

"Disney World?" Clint suggested.

"We went last month," Pietro said.

Scott's jaw dropped. "You went to Disney World and you didn't invite us?"

"We will go again with Cassie," Wanda promised. She and Cassie were braid-buddies.

It was Vision who suggested it. "Diana has never been to Europe," he said simply.

Steve smiled. "Europe. Of course. A two week vacation to Europe. We can go to London, Paris,"

"Venice," Natasha added.

"And Barcelona," Clint said. "Better take three weeks though. Europe is heavy stuff."

"Budapest," Natasha snickered.

Clint poked her. "Stop it."

She scrunched her nose at him.

"Is three weeks okay though?" Steve asked doubtfully. "What if something happens-"

"Then we'll call you," Sam said. "Take your vacation, man. You and Diana have earned it."

Natasha spoke up. "We'll go confirm it with Diana. Clint, show him the scrapbook."

"Right." The archer climbed into the vents to retrieve the scrapbook he kept of Strike Team Delta's missions. He was quite a tourist when missions allowed, and had dragged a tolerant Tasha to all the sights he could manage.

Natasha and Wanda left Steve in good hands and went to corner Diana in her office.

Diana was on the phone when they came in. "Yes Ambassador, I completely understand. Yes." A pause. "Would you rather twenty thousand of your countrymen have died instead?" She nodded. "I didn't think so." A pause. "If we find you the most skilled restoration artist on the planet and pick up the tab, would that satisfy your request?" A pause. "A representative will email you with the details. Yes Mister Ambassador. Good day." She turned off her Bluetooth and dropped it on the desk.

"Tough day?" Natasha asked.

Diana stood up and hugged them both. "I'm so glad to see you. You're just in time, too. I need your help."

"We're here to serve," Natasha said smiling. "What's up?"

"Our anniversary is coming up in a couple of weeks and I went to give Steve something, but I have no idea what."

Wanda almost burst into laughter at the request, but she controlled herself and looked at Natasha.

Tasha looked completely unfazed. "And what do you want for your anniversary?"

"I don't know. Is he planning something? Don't tell me. Wait yes, do tell me. That's something else I wanted to ask you about. People magazine is doing a piece on the most influential couple of the year, and they picked us." She showed them the email. "They want an interview and a photo shoot, to run it in September."

Wanda was impressed. "It's true of course. You _are_ the most influential couple."

Natasha laughed. "Two years ago they picked Tony and Pepper. Tony's going to be so annoyed you took his title."

"Good," Wanda said, smirking. "It will knock his ego down a few pegs."

"Let's go have lunch," Diana suggested.

"It's only ten thirty."

"Then we'll have elevenses. Come on." She linked elbows with them and dragged them out of the office.

They had tea and blueberry muffins, talked about gift ideas, vacations to Europe, and then, reluctantly, Diana went back to work.

Natasha and Wanda went back to the group. There were maps and schedules thrown up on holographic screens everywhere.

"How did it go?" Steve asked.

Natasha grinned. "It looks like a travel agency threw up in here."

"But how'd it go?" Steve asked impatiently. "What did she say?"

"Whatever you do, she's going to love it," Natasha said. "She knows you're planning something and wants to know the dates. People mag wants an interview with the two of you."

"For what?" Steve asked suspiciously.

"Most influential couple."

Rhodey laughed. "What, seriously?"

Steve frowned. "We're not the _most_ -"

"Yes you are," Sam, Clint, and Rhodey chorused. "Bask in the glory," Rhodey added. "Tony was insufferable for weeks after that came out, so you have to enjoy it."

Steve still looked uncomfortable.

"Where are you with the itinerary?" Wanda asked, changing the subject.

Later that day Diana was finishing her work for the day when Steve came in. She smiled. "Hello, handsome."

"Good evening gorgeous." He came around the desk and bent his head to kiss her. "Are you done for the day?"

"Let me get my shoes." She fished her heels out from beneath the desk and slipped them on. Her hand came just up to his lips, and he took advantage of the fact immediately.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and smiled at him. "Affectionate much?" she asked, giggling when he kissed her ear.

He pressed a final kiss to her lips and smiled down at her. "What would you think of a trip to Europe for three weeks?" he asked.

She gaped. "What? Really?"

He nodded.

"Is that why Tasha and Wanda came by earlier?" Diana gasped.

"Yep."

She kissed him. "I would love to go to Europe with you. Which parts?"

He handed her the tablet. "I roughed out a trip with everyone's help. What do you think?"

As she read down the list, her jaw dropped. "These are all my favorite, on my wish list, how did you know?"

Steve smiled. "Bookshelves are the windows to the soul."

She hugged him again. "It's perfect. When do we leave?"

"Next Tuesday." He slung an arm around her waist. "Dinner?"

"Absolutely. I'm starved."

So one week later, they were on a Stark jet to Ireland. They landed in Dublin, said goodbye to the pilot, and headed to the small bed and breakfast on the outskirts of Dublin. It was quaint and picturesque, and the first thing they did was sit in the pub and have a pint of Guiness.

"This is a bit surreal," Diana said, licking a bit of foam off her lip. "Now that we're checked in where do we go from here?"

"Well, there's a whole lot of city to explore," Steve said, "and you're wearing your comfortable shoes."

She smiled. "Yes I am."

He stood up and offered her an arm. They paid their tab and walked arm in arm down the streets, looking for adventure.

They wandered around Dublin for a while, and visited St. Patrick's Cathedral. Steve paused at the door to slip his hat off.

"What if they recognize you?" Diana asked.

Steve shrugged. "It's rude to wear a hat indoors."

"Okay, just making sure you're aware of that." She took his hand and they walked in.

There were tons of tourists even on a Tuesday afternoon, but everyone was focused on the windows and the ceilings. Diana and Steve joined a tour group explaining the origins of some of the artwork, and then Steve noticed a five-year-old girl who was staring at him intently. He gave her a brief smile and turned back to the tour guide. He felt eyes on the back of his neck and turned again. The little girl was staring at him still.

"Hi," he said kindly. "Are you lost?"

She shook her head solemnly. "Are you Captain America?" she whispered.

Steve heard Diana's giggle, and ignored her. He gave the little girl a wink, and held a finger to his lips.

The little girl's eyes went wide. "Are you here to fight bad guys?" she asked.

"Nope," Steve replied quietly, "I'm here on vacation with my wife."

"Hi," Diana said, giving the girl a wave.

The little girl blushed and waved back.

"Katie," the girl's mom called, ushering her child away.

Diana smiled at Steve. He grinned back at her. "It's always the little ones," he remarked.

They left the cathedral soon afterwards and headed to the Guiness Storehouse. As it was evening the place was packed, but it was a nice place to sit and look out at the city. After they'd had their fill of beer making, they went back to the B&B and called it a night.

The next day was dubbed the museum walk. They visited Trinity College and Diana nearly died of delight when they got to see the Book of Kells, one of the most beautiful illustrated manuscripts in the world. Besides the library, they visited the Science Gallery at the college. And, to Steve's chagrin, there was a section devoted to 'The Supersoldier Serum.' It was a record and overview of the different types of super soldiers created throughout history.

"He looks familiar," Diana said, pointing at a picture of Captain America from the forties. "Is that even real armor?"

"Nope," Steve replied, "costume from the USO shows. Of all the pictures..." he shook his head.

"You were so cute though," Diana protested, giggling. "Look at the little wings on your hat!"

He growled in frustration and wrapped an arm around her waist, steering her away from the exhibit. "Whatever, sweetheart."

She laughed. "C'mon soldier boy. Let's get out of here before someone recognizes you."

They skimmed the rest of the gallery, found themselves a nice steakhouse, and walked back to their B&B under the twinkling streetlights.

The day after that they drove to the Cliffs of Moher, and spent the day in that incredible vista, with a picnic lunch and everything. Diana got lots of good pictures of her and Steve with the help of a few bystanders, and the place they stayed that night gave them a discount for their anniversary.

After that, they got in their rental car and headed to Blarney Castle. It was beautiful, and Steve managed to get a few good sketches of Diana standing amongst the ruins. He would fill them in later.

From there, they took a ferry to England, and then took the train to London. Diana was bursting with excitement as they got down to the London Eye. "Big transmitter in the center of London," she muttered under her breath.

"What?" Steve asked, wondering if he'd heard her correctly.

She smiled at him. "Nothing dear. Just a TV reference."

He ushered her into the glass pod and held the door for a couple of old ladies. "Ma'am," he said courteously.

"Thank you very much young man," the older of the two said. "It's so nice to see a young man with manners nowadays."

Diana wrapped an arm around Steve's waist. "I wonder what they'd think if I told them you were older than they are," she said, stifling a snicker.

"Technically the time in the ice doesn't count."

"Yes yes, I know you're a wonderful strong man in your prime, but then why does Natasha keep printing out the AARP applications and leaving them in our apartment?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "Because she thinks she's hilarious."

They were a double whirlwind on London's tourists spot over the next few days. The Museum of Natural History, Baker Street 221B, the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, Westminster Abbey, Hyde Park, and...

"No," Steve said.

"Yes," Diana said.

Steve rolled over in the hotel bed and buried his face in her shoulder. "No, come on, you don't want to go there," he whined. "We'll get recognized, and mobbed..."

She ran her fingers through his blond hair. "Come on, honey, you know you want a picture. You didn't get to get one the first time." She ran her fingers down his back. "And besides, even if we do get mobbed, we can just cite an important meeting and make a getaway."

Steve sighed, the huff of air across Diana's collarbone making her shiver. "Fine. We can go take a selfie with Captain America."

They got dressed and headed to Madame Tussaud's of London. It was great. Diana got pictures of Steve with famous historical people, and then they came to the Avengers. They were all there, even the twins and Vision.

"That is uncanny," Steve admitted, standing nose to nose with his waxwork figure.

Diana eyed the shoulder to waist ratio. "Slightly off, but still, very cool," she observed clinically, and broke into giggles. "All right, come on, take a selfie."

"You too," he said, pulling her into the picture.

She stood in between the two Cap's, and Steve took the picture. As soon as they put the phone down, a tour group came in. One of the young girls took one look at the wax figure, glanced at Steve, did a huge double take, and gasped. "It's you!"

Steve winced, but managed a smile. "Ma'am."

"You're Captain America!"

They were surrounded by the tour group, everyone asking for pictures and autographs. And not a few people recognized Diana as well, and asked her to be in the pictures as well.

They finally got out of there when Diana's phone rang. She checked the caller ID and said, "Cap, time to go. There's a situation."

Steve put on his serious face and nodded. "Time to go, folks." With a final nod, he escorted Diana from the building.

They walked around the corner and Diana answered the phone. "Hi Pepper."

"Did you know you and Steve are trending right now?" Pepper asked, amused.

"Are we?" Diana asked.

"Yes you are. #CaptainAmericaAnniversary is on twitter and Instagram as of fifteen minutes ago."

Diana sighed. "That would be the crowd we just left."

"I can see that. The waxworks are cool, aren't they?"

"Very." Diana checked her phone. "Can you get Tony to turn off the geolocations on the pictures? Otherwise we're going to be on #AvengerWatch again."

"No problem," Peppers said kindly. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation."

"Thank you, Pepper." Diana put the phone in her pocket and grabbed Steve's hand. "Okay, let's go."

"Told you," he said, grinning.

"But you got your picture," she retorted.

"True." He kissed her forehead. "It's a Friday. How about a play?"

"Sure. West end musical?"

Steve smiled. "I was thinking something a little more classical." He handed her a pair of tickets.

She stared at the tickets. "Hamlet, at the Globe Theatre?" she asked, gripping his hand tightly.

"Tony helped me swing the tickets."

"Oh my goodness." She wrapped her arms around his neck. "Best part of the trip so far."

"Yeah?" he asked, kissing her lightly.

"Mm-hm," she replied, returning the kiss.

They spent the rest of the day at Harrods before going to see _Hamlet_. Diana watched the stage, enraptured, and mouthed nearly the entire thing along with the actors on stage. Steve just leaned back in his seat and watched her, his hand tracing the path his words took on her shoulder.

From London they took a trip to Stonehenge, and stood for a long time just looking at the giant structure.

"I wouldn't be surprised if it was aliens," Diana said, after a long moment.

"Neither would I," Steve said. "When Thor comes back..."

"Yeah. Definitely going to ask him."

The next day they took the ferry from Dover to Calais, and Steve impressed Diana with his knowledge of French. "I learned it in the war," he explained as they strolled down idyllic streets, "and I've kept it up with Natasha's help."

"Very romantic," Diana said, kissing him. "Also, very practical, as I think we've misplaced a suitcase."

They found the suitcase, and boarded a train to Paris. There, Steve submitted to Diana's wish to go shopping, because "I have money, goldurnitall, and Natasha and Pepper gave me a list of shops." They spent the next two days at the Louvre, and Steve seriously considered going back to art school.

"Should we do the Eiffel Tower?" Steve asked.

"Not the top," Diana suggested. "How about the classic picture?"

They found a street vendor nice enough to take a picture of them kissing under the Eiffel Tower. Diana sent it to the Avengers media dept and let them post it on the official accounts. "If we're going to be cliche, we might as well go all the way," she explained to Steve.

"Cliche, are we?" he asked.

"Absolutely," she said, smiling at him.

They visited the palace at Versailles, and then they went to CERN.

"This is the only non-anniversary thing we're doing," Diana said. "Seriously. Why can't Tony do his own dirty work?"

"Because he has no tact, and no patience," Steve replied, kissing her head. "And it is in your job description."

Diana mock scowled at him. "Nobody asked for the cold hard truth, mister."

"Terribly sorry, madam," he said, giving her a stately bow. "Won't happen again." He kissed her palm gently. "From now on I shall only tell the most beautiful white lies."

"So if I ask you if a dress makes me look fat?" she baited.

He drew her close and kissed her forehead. "Then I will have to tell you the cold hard truth, Mrs. Rogers. You are always beautiful."

She blushed under his intense gaze and cupped his face in her hands. "I love you."

He pressed another kiss to her forehead. "I love you."

She took a step back after a moment and cleared her throat. "All right. Time for business."

By the end of the day, she'd brokered a deal between SI and CERN. The particle collider was now under Stark Industries control, and as soon as Tony got the confirmation email, he sent back, _Thank you! Tell Capsicle his wife is marvelous! remodeling begins on Wednesday. I've been waiting years for this. TTYL lovebirds._

"I worry about him," Steve said, reading the email over her shoulder.

"That's my job description," Diana corrected.

Steve took the phone out of her hands and closed the app. "Can we go back to vacation now?"

"Gladly."

From France they went to Spain, and spent a few days in beautiful Barcelona. Between Steve and Diana, they managed all right with the language, and

They rented a small apartment above a market square, and for meals, all the had to do was walk outside. There were vendors, and little cafes, and after the hustle and bustle of the other cities, it was nice to relax. They also hit a few of the tourist spots, a couple museums, a historical building here and there.

On the third day, Diana got a text from Natasha. "She says we should visit 'La Vista' for dinner, that they give specials to couples on their anniversary."

"Sounds good to me," Steve said.

Diana texted Natasha back "Thx 3".

They made a reservation ahead of time just in case, and at seven o'clock, they were being escorted into a back room. The lights were off. "Un momento," the waiter said, flicking the lights on.

"Surprise!" a chorus of voices shouted, as the room was revealed. It was all the Avengers, plus Pepper, Diana's mom, Peter, and Aunt Mae. The room was decorated and a 'Happy Anniversary' banner strung across the windows.

"Wow," Diana said, going to hug her mother. She turned to look at Steve. "Did you know about this?"

"No idea," Steve said, shaking his head. He stepped forward to give Bucky a hug. "Was this your idea?" he asked.

Bucky shook his head. "Tasha's."

Diana went to hug the super spy immediately. "Of course it was. Thank you."

Tasha nodded to the tables. "We haven't even eaten yet."

"Yes, everybody sit down." Tony ushered everyone into chairs impatiently and called for the waiter.

Plates of food began coming out, and freshly baked bread by the basket. They ate, talked, laughed, and Diana showed them a few pictures from the trip.

"Where do you go from here?" Mrs. Lawrence asked.

"Venice," Diana said, giving a happy sigh.

"Home of Casanova," Tony said, raising an eyebrow mischievously.

Clint threw a piece of breadstick at the billionaire. "Of course you'd know that."

"Of course."

They ate till they were full, and then Pietro zoomed out and zoomed back in bearing a cake. "We ordered it this afternoon," he said. "Had to go get it."

'Happy First Anniversary ~ May You Have Many More' was written on it in cursive, and there was a picture of Cap's shield and a pen across it, like a sword.

"Interesting design," Steve said.

"Get it?" Scott asked. "Cuz the pen is mightier than the sword?"

Diana hugged him. "It's great."

"But how does it _taste_?" Peter asked, eyeing the frosting hungrily.

Natasha flipped out a knife from somewhere and handed it to Steve. He cut the cake into perfectly even squares, and after Steve and Diana got their slices, everyone pounced.

"Chocolate with raspberry and fudge icing," Diana announced, taking the first bite. "It's delicious." She licked a bit of frosting off her lip. She only ate half the slice, feeling too full, and let Steve have the rest of it.

The team stayed awhile, talking and drinking wine, and then Tony cleared his throat. "Well kids, it was fun. Time to go." He gave Diana a hug and a kiss on the cheek. "Enjoy the rest of your vacation, don't get mobbed, we'll see you in a week."

From Barcelona, they took the train to Venice, the last stop on their tour. "You could tour the whole city and never leave the canals," Steve said, impressed.

Diana gave him a mischievous smile. "You want to try it?"

Steve adopted a thoughtful expression. "Well... maybe next time." He took her hand and swung their hands gently. "La Piazza de San Marco?"

"Let's go," Diana agreed.

They spent the whole day in the square and hte histoircal buildings nearby, and went to bed early, tired from walking. The next day they visited the Naval Museum and walked all along the waterfront, popping in and out of the museums with a city pass. "You should've gone into the Navy," Diana said, admiring the old naval uniforms. "Beautiful uniforms..."

"The _navy_?" Steve said, scandalized. "No way."

"Not even as a captain of a ship?" she asked.

Steve scowled. "You just like the buttons don't you?"

"Maybe." She patted his broad chest. "You look good in any uniform, dear."

The last day of their trip was spent with very little fanfare. They took a gondola ride down the canals, had dinner at a small bakery, and then took a cab to the air field where the Stark jet was waiting.

"Addio, Venizia," Diana said dramatically, waving farewell to the city as they boarded the plane.

"We can always come back," Steve reminded her.

"True. Let's go to wine country next time. You can be the designated driver."

Steve smirked. "At least the super soldier serum is good for something."

"Yep." She cuddled into his side as the plane began to taxi down the strip. "Wake me up when we get there."

"Jet lag's going to be brutal," Steve commented.

"Mm-hm." She was asleep within ten minutes.

Steve kissed the top of her head and took out his sketchbook. Now was the perfect time to finalize the sketches he'd started.

As soon as they returned to New York, Diana was obliged to fill up the social media with select pictures from their trip. Now that it was over, they could hashtag locations with no worries. And like Steve had predicted, the jet lag was brutal. It took Diana a week to recover from the vacation, and she bemoaned the fact that Steve wasn't even fazed by the trip. "There needs to be a little pill," she said, burying her face in his shoulder, "a little tiny serum pill that jumpstarts your body."

"You should patent that. Make a fortune." He was reviewing reports from the three weeks they'd missed.

"The people from People are coming the day after tomorrow for the thing," Diana reminded him.

"Make sure Hill knows they're coming or they'll never get in the door."

"Yep. What are you going to wear?"

He shrugged. "Whatever you pick, dear."

She kissed his cheek. "You're a very intelligent man, Steve Rogers."

The people from People were vetted at the door, Maria grudgingly allowing them access, and the interview took place outside, on one of the terraces. Diana was wearing a dark blue dress with matching heels, and Steve was wearing a long sleeve white button down and dark blue dress pants, the top two buttons undone. Natasha and Pepper were both there to make sure the interview didn't get out of hand, and Natasha blatantly loomed over the woman conducting the interview while Pepper did a poker-face off to the side.

The questions were harmless though, and both Steve and Diana had been given the list beforehand to prep their answers. "What is the hardest thing about being Head of Accountability to both the Avengers and SHIELD?"

"The hardest thing is balancing work and personal life. Not only do we work together we live together, play together. And sometimes there's a fine line between 'okay, let's patent a real life Flubber' on the weekends and 'no seriously, you're not going to build a space elevator.'"

Steve smirked, remembering that conversation with Tony and Peter.

"And you, Captain?" the interviewer asked. "Is it hard taking orders from your wife?"

"Not at all," Steve replied instantly. He smiled at Diana. "I trust her. Nd when we disagree on something, we resolve it in the office."

"What if it's a personal matter?"

"Then we never go to bed angry," Steve said. "It was a true saying in the forties and it's still true now."

"Does it work?"

Diana smiled. "Ninety-nine percent of the time, yes it does. The other one percent, well, he's a super soldier and I'm a writer, we can go for days without sleep." She and Steve smiled at each other.

"What do you think about the emphasis people place on your being role models? You, Mrs. Rogers, are getting a lot of coverage in schools, encouraging young women."

"I'm honored that young women choose my teammates and I as role models," Diana said. "And the thing is, I'm only human. Anything you want to do, it's possible. It's really possible. The thing is though, I wouldn't be here without my support system. IT doesn't always have to be soulmates. It can be close friends, family, mentors. It's always important to remember you can't do it alone."

"And you, Captain Rogers?"

And so on and so forth, until they got what they needed. "Thank you very much. We'll send you a final copy for review next week." There was a round of handshaking, and they were gone.

"I bet I know which picture's going to be on the cover," Natasha said smugly.

"Which one?"

"The one where they were looking into each other's eyes all adorable like."

"Wouldn't it be the one where they're looking at the camera?"

"Nah."

"I'll bet you a spa day it will be."

"You're on."

Diana smirked and linked elbows with the two ladies. "I'm inviting myself to whoever wins."

A week later, it turned out Natasha was right. Pepper obligingly paid for a spa day and included all the women on the team for good measure.

And when the magazine came out in September, it was a hit. Whenever Diana or Steve went to the city, people would pull out copies and ask for signatures. Diana got invitations to speak at girl's events.

"It's weird being famous," Diana said, eyeing the email request curiously.

"Tell me about it, dahling," Tony said in a fake posh accent.

"Your Edna Mode voice could use some work."

Tony gasped. "Don't you dare compare us to those fake superheroes in elastic suits."

"I don't know, Dash and Violet…"


	25. Chapter 25

**A/N: All righty! Thanks everyone for all your reviews and favorites/follows. This chapter has a little bit of everything. A little character development, a little time travel, bit of angst, bit of fluff. Enjoy!**

A few weeks later the Avengers received an addition to the team. Or rather, a reappearance of some members of the team. Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis were back in town to cooperate with the Avengers and SHIELD on extraterrestrial tracking methods. It was cutting edge developmental technology gathered from the incident in Greenwich with the dimensional convergence, and they were using the readings they'd gathered to create profiles of different dimensions. That, compounded with satellite surveillance of the skies, would give them an early-warning system in case of another alien attack.

"And seriously, this is long-overdue," Tony said. "Never mind global surveillance, we're going interstellar."

Diana gave him a dirty look. "You've been hoarding that one-liner since movie night, haven't you?"

Tony gave her an innocent look. "Maybe."

"Matthew McConaughey," Darcy sighed, on the other end of the bar.

"His voice," Maria agreed.

Darcy nudged Jane. "Stop texting Donald and hang out. Drink your mojito."

"Donald?" Diana asked curiously.

Jane turned red. "My, uh, we were together for a while in college. He's in New York right now, working at a hospital. He's a surgeon."

Diana frowned. "I see."

"What about you and Point Break?" Tony asked bluntly.

Darcy dropped her forehead onto the counter with a sigh.

Jane looked supremely uncomfortable. "We didn't work out," she said. "He's a prince, he's not even here most of the time, and when he is the world is ending."

"Does he know the two of you didn't work out?" Diana asked, starting to get angry on behalf of her soulmate.

Jane nodded. "There was a sign."

"Literally, lighting struck in the middle of the day, clear sky, and a peach rose bush grew out of the concrete," Darcy added, showing them a picture of it.

"Peach roses mean 'friendship'," Diana said, inspecting the pixelated, slightly smoking rose bush.

"Exactly. And then there was rainbow. I wish all breakups were that awesome." Darcy took a swig of her cocktail.

"What happened with your intern?" Diana asked.

"Uh, he got an actual paid job."

"Good for him."

"Yep."

Pietro appeared from the other side of the room. "Another drink?" he asked, sliding a glass across the bar to Darcy.

She smiled at him. "Don't mind if I do."

Diana left the two to flirt and walked across to where Steve, Sam, and Scott were talking about cars. "Gonna buy a hot rod for your little girl?" she asked Scott teasingly.

He blanched and shook his head. "No, no, no. She's not getting a driver's license. She's staying cute and tiny and non-interested in boys. Forever."

"You wish," Sam said. "They all grow up, man."

"Nope."

Diana rolled her eyes and tuned out the talk about horsepower, and let her eyes roam the room, looking for her soulmates. Clint and Natasha were talking to Bucky about something that looked suspiciously like a handgun, Peter and Rhodey were playing 3D Mario Kart, Vision was kibitzing, and Wanda... Wanda was glaring daggers at her twin, who was now sitting about six inches away from Ms. Lewis and telling an exaggerated story.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," Diana murmured, slipping out of Steve's embrace. She walked over to Wanda and leaned against the wall. "O, beware, my sister, of jealousy; It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock the meat it feeds on." She smiled at Wanda's confizzled look.

"What?" Wanda asked, clearly distracted.

"You and Pietro having a fight?" Diana asked gently.

"No."

"Then why do you look like you want to zap him into next week?"

"Because he's an idiot," Wanda replied sharply.

Diana nudged her shoulder. "He's an idiot a lot of the time. What's wrong?"

"I don't see why he has to flirt all the time," Wanda grumbled, scowling at an equally flirtatious Darcy.

"Because he's young and pretty and we don't let him out much," Diana replied. "He'll calm down or he'll get serious."

Wanda's frown deepened. "Get serious?"

Diana wrapped an arm around the young woman's shoulders. "He's not going to abandon you, Wanda."

"It's always only ever been the two of us," Wanda said quietly.

"I know sweetheart," Diana said, "but you know that even if you or Pietro find a significant other you'll still be soulmates. That bond will never go away."

Wanda still looked uncertain.

"Hey, listen, has anyone complained that I don't care about them anymore since I've been married?" Diana asked.

"No, never."

Diana nodded. "It'll always be like that with you and him. And you've always got me, no matter what."

Wanda gave her a brief smile. "Yeah." She leaned into Diana's embrace and took a sip of her drink, looking calmer.

Pietro came over at that moment and looked at his twin questioningly. "You all right?"

"I'm fine. We're just talking. Girl things."

He kissed her on the forehead. "All right. Just tell me when you want to go home and we'll go." He zoomed off to talk to Scott and Peter.

"See?" Diana said softly.

Wanda nodded. "I see."

Jane and Darcy stayed in the tower most of the time, and Diana saw them a few days a week. Darcy was an excellent scientist wrangler, and she kept even Tony in line when he was down in the labs.

But then there were days when he hid from his office work and SHIELD responsibilities and Diana had to track him down and stand over him with a pointy object till he finished it. And then she would give him a coffee and stay to keep him company while he worked. She even had her own 'Soulmate Perch' that was a comfortable couch with a fold out desk and a cup holder, and her favorite snacks stored in the drawers.

That particular day he was testing the power source for the early warning system when suddenly alarms began to whoop, Tony gave a surprised shout, and the power source exploded outwards. Diana remembered a hot wave of heat, tumbling head over heels off the back of the couch, and then darkness.

Diana groaned and lifted her head. If she was concussed, she was going to sic Pepper on- "Tony?" she asked the curly-haired man inspecting a newspaper in the corner.

"Nope," the man said cheerfully, coming forward and tossing the paper down. "Howard Stark, at your service, miss?"

"Mrs. Rogers," she corrected him absently, and then did a double-take. " _Howard Stark?_ " she almost screeched.

He grinned. "Yeah, I have that effect on people."

She sat up and winced at the burst of pain behind her eyes. "Ow. Ow. Ow." She pinched the bridge of her nose until it receded, and she opened her eyes to find Howard peering at her worriedly. "I'm fine."

"Uh-huh. I would take you to a hospital, but Jarvis thought it'd be better to-"

"Jarvis?" Diana echoed.

"My butler. Anyway, you were in an explosion in my basement, which is strange because you don't look like a squatter, so-"

"Wait, where are we?" Diana interrupted.

"New York city. My house."

"Manhattan?" she clarified.

"Yes."

"And you found me in your basement?"

"Yes..."

"Is this before or after the war?" she continued.

"After," he replied strangely. "You know what, I think we will take you to the hospital after all. Come on."

"No, no, just tell me what year is it, just to make sure."

"1949."

Diana groaned and dropped her head into her hands. Time travel. Why. Why, out of all the agents in SHIELD and superheroes in the Avengers, why did it have to be her.

There was a knock on the door and it opened to admit a man and a woman. The man spoke. "Agent Carter here to see you, sir."

Diana jerked her head up and gaped at the two familiar figures. Edwin Jarvis and Agent Peggy Carter in the flesh. This was... "This must be a joke," she said aloud. "A cruel, cruel joke by the cruel, cruel universe." She dropped her head in her hands again. "This cannot be happening."

"I feel slightly offended by that," Peggy said, sharing a look with Jarvis. "I'm not that bad, am I?"

"I think you're delightful company," Jarvis replied.

Diana took a deep breath. Cruel joke or not, this was really happening. Wasn't it? "Am I in a coma again?" she asked the universe at large. "Is this the delusion of my coma brain, sending me back to Steve and Tony's past? I know he's been a bit nostalgic lately but _really_."

"She's got a concussion," Howard informed the other two.

"I do not," Diana retorted. She smoothed down her shirt, thankful that she was wearing jeans and a flowered blouse, and not a business skirt. She stood up, her headache receding. "My name is Diana Lawrence. I do _not_ have a concussion, because I know what those feel like, and..." she trailed off. "And the rest I don't really have an explanation for."

"You said you were Mrs. Rogers," Howard pointed out suspiciously.

"I am. I got married. Just celebrated my one-year anniversary a couple months ago."

"Who are you married to?" Howard challenged.

Diana's eyes widened. "I... can't tell you?"

"Why not?"

"Because... I don't know actually. There aren't any rules for this sort of thing." She frowned. "I should probably fix that. There ought to be rules for time travel."

"Time travel?" Peggy echoed, raising an eyebrow.

Diana sighed. "Yep. Time travel." She leaned back against the bed. "You know what? I might as well tell you. It's not like you three haven't had practice keeping secrets." Decision made, she looked at Peggy. "Where I come from it's the year 2016. I am married to Steven Grant Rogers, Captain America, who was found in cryo-stasis in the year 2012. He's the leader of a group of superheroes called the Avengers, who are based out of New York and save the world on a regular basis. One of those, Tony, or rather Anthony Edward Stark, also known as Iron Man, is a certified genius and also the director of SHIELD, an outgrowth of the SSR that you, Agent Carter and Mr. Stark, founded. Tony is also a mad scientist in his spare time, and I was with him in the lab when he was working on an improved power source. Whatever it was blew up, and I woke up five minutes ago in 1949, which is really freaking me out, by the way."

There was a stunned silence from the other three, and then they all spoke at once.

"Steve?" Peggy asked.

" _Son_?" Howard asked.

"Would you like a cup of tea?" Jarvis asked, a pained expression on his face.

Diana laughed. "Yes Jarvis, I would love a cup of tea." She followed him out of the guest room, the other two trailing behind in shock.

"Wait, wait, wait, time travel?" Howard asked, visibly refocusing. He started to beam. "This is incredible. And you say we found Captain Rogers? And, sorry, my _son_ is the director of SHIELD? We haven't even figured out what it stands for yet!"

"Why did it take us so long to find him?" Peggy asked, the _him_ being obvious. "Is he all right? Is he adjusting?"

Diana cleared her throat. "It just did. There were more important things for SHIELD to do than look for a body. But neither of you gave up hope. And yes, Steve is just fine. A little careworn, but who isn't?"

"Who are you, anyway?" Howard asked. "What do you do? Not that you'd have to _do_ anything, you're a great looking girl, but I'm assuming most women in the future work."

"I'm the head of accountability for both Avengers and SHIELD," Diana replied. "And on a personal note, I'm both Steve and Tony's soulmate. And, eight other superheroes."

Peggy's eyes narrowed. "Show me proof."

Diana pushed her hair to the side and turned her back to the agent. "On my left shoulder is Steve's soul mark. My words on him say 'Aye lord, what fools these mortals be.' It's from Shakespeare."

Peggy frowned at the words on Diana's shoulder.

"And his other set, that he shares with Bucky, say 'Need some help, punk?'"

Peggy's frown deepened. "No one knew that second set existed."

"I do." She decided not to mention that somewhere in Germany, Bucky was alive and being brainwashed. That was...that was a can of worms she could not open.

"Ten soulmates total?" Howard asked, inspecting her shoulder. "How does that work?"

"Complicated-ly," Diana replied, letting her hair back down and turning to face them. "And yes, that is a technical term."

Jarvis poured the tea, and they all took seats around the kitchen table. "How do we return you to your future?" he asked.

"I have no idea," Diana said. "Tony was the one who caused the explosion."

"I'm assuming they'll be looking for a way to bring you back themselves?" Peggy asked.

Diana nodded. "We've got a ton of geniuses on call."

"Then I think the only thing to do is wait. Unless, Howard, you've got a time machine and haven't told us?"

"No I don't. However..."

"No," Diana told him firmly. "Not a good idea. And besides, you're inventing an agency. Focus on that."

"SHIELD," Peggy said, taking a sip of tea. "What does it stand for?"

Diana stared at her. "You don't know?"

"We wanted that to be its name, we haven't figured out the actual words yet."

"Oh." Diana grinned. "Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division."

Howard blinked. "Makes sense."

"Quite a mouthful. Very vague." Peggy smirked. "I like it."

Diana shook her head. "This is surreal. Having tea with Jarvis and the SHIELD founders." She shook her head again.

"How do you even know about me?" Jarvis asked curiously.

Diana smiled at him. "You loved Tony more than anything. Of course I know about you. And, well, there's still a version of you around."

Jarvis groaned. "Don't tell me that ridiculous security system is still around."

"Well. Kind of? But you took care of all of us, until Vision. Now that version of the program is," she trailed off. "Never mind. It's complicated." She noticed Peggy staring at her. "What?"

"Nothing. It's just..." She looked wistful.

Diana realized what it was. "Take a walk?" she asked the two men, giving them a look.

"Yeah, I have to analyze the explosion, stuff," Howard said, exiting hastily, Jarvis on his heels.

Peggy stared into the bottom of her tea cup.

"You were in love with him," Diana said softly.

Peggy looked up, startled. "How did you know?"

"Because he was in love with you, too. Still loves you in a way."

Peggy nodded slowly. "I was smitten with the little guy. Short, skinny, couldn't breathe half the time."

Diana smiled. "Yeah, I know. Recently he reverted to his pre-serum state and I got to see what he was like. He was adorable."

"He was, wasn't he?"

They shared a brief smile.

"I thought about a future with him," Peggy said conversationally. "I imagined after the war, we'd have a dance, get to know each other, save the world together maybe. But when the plane went down... I thought he was dead."

"He thought about it too," Diana said quietly, after a moment. "It took him a long time to come to terms with the fact that you had a long and happy life without him."

She met Peggy's questioning gaze. "You've got a good life coming up, Peggy. A really good life. A husband, kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, generations of good people serving their countries and their planet. You save the world more than any of us have yet."

"I've died, haven't I?" Peggy asked. "I can see it in your face. I've died of old age already."

Diana hesitated, and then nodded. "Just recently, yes. Good funeral. Touching speeches. Steve... he took it hard, but, I think he's accepted it now. You get to see him in the future," she added.

Peggy brightened. "I do?"

"Yeah. He came to see you a lot."

"Do I see you in the future as well?"

Diana shook her head. "Steve and I have only really known each other for two years. And I don't know, it just never really happened. I'm sorry though."

"I'm not," Peggy said decisively. "Nobody wants to see an old woman. I'm much more fun now, I think."

Diana grinned. "Yeah."

"So how did you meet?"

"In a coffee shop, actually. I met Steve and Tony at the same time. Actually met six of them all in one day."

"How did that turn out?"

Diana shared the story, and when the two men came back, both women were laughing hysterically.

"I don't know if I should be happy or terrified," Howard muttered.

Steve was terrified. One minute he and Natasha were sparring, and the next Tony was on the line yelling something about Diana. "She's gone!" he kept saying. "She's gone, she's gone, I lost her, get to the tower ASAP!" He sounded half-hysterical.

"Stark!" Natasha snapped into the phone. "Calm down. From the beginning."

"Diana was with me while I was working on a new power source pulling energy from another dimension and there was an explosion and I was knocked out. When I woke up she was _gone_."

"What do you mean _gone_?" Steve asked, his heart sinking into the subbasement.

"She's _gone_. As in not in the tower, not dead, not anywhere." Tony groaned. "I'm getting SHIELD on it and recalling all the geniuses to the Tower. Will you just get your butts here before I have another nervous breakdown?"

"We'll be there in twenty," Steve said shortly, and hung up. "Avengers assemble."

"What's happened?" Pietro asked, zooming in to the quinjet first.

"Diana's disappeared. Head to the tower."

Pietro was gone in a flash.

Twenty minutes later the Avengers were piling into the common room at the tower, worried sick. They could all feel it, the blank space in their hearts that proclaimed the absence of a soulmate. Tony, Peter, Fitz, Simmons, and Jane met them there.

"She's not-" Wanda choked on the words, couldn't even say them. "She's not, right?"

"No, she's not," Steve said firmly. "She's alive."

Pietro wrapped an arm around his sister and kissed her head. "Stark, what did you do?"

"We're trying to figure that out," Tony said, eyeing Steve nervously. "But so far we think she's been teleported."

"So she's somewhere else on the planet?" Clint asked.

"Or dimension," Jane added.

Scott groaned. "Please don't say quantum dimension because that would be bad."

"No, there's no way," Tony said dismissively. "I was going sideways with the power source, not down."

Steve ignored Tony's frantic blathering. "All right. Global wide search. Everybody pick a section. Same way we tracked Loki down." He looked at Tony. "Does she still have the trackers in her shoes?"

"Yes," Tony said, and coughed lightly. "Speaking of trackers..."

"Yes?" Steve asked, dangerously calm.

"I might have created a tiny radioactive one and implanted it in her leg about six months ago."

Steve stared at him. "What."

"It's completely harmless," Tony promised. "Just, wherever she is, the radiation signature ought to show up. Completely untraceable except by my machines."

"Well what are you waiting for?"

"What, seriously? I thought there was going to a lecture."

Steve scowled. "I want my wife back."

Tony started the search algorithm, Natasha got on the world wide face tracers, and the rest of the team was delegated to the common room to wait.

"I hate waiting," Steve grumbled, pacing furiously back and forth.

"She's gonna be okay, Cap," Sam said.

Steve nodded tensely but kept pacing. He wouldn't accept any comfort until his wife was safely back in his arms. And he was never letting her out of his sight again.

"You know that's not gonna fly," Clint observed mildly, from the top of the exposed rafter that was his special perch.

Steve looked up. "What?"

"Never letting her out of your sight," Clint said.

Steve frowned. He hadn't even realized he'd said it aloud. "I can try," he replied. He paced another round and paused at the elevator. "I'm going to check on Stark," he said.

Vision and Wanda shared a glance. "I will go," Vision said, standing up. Someone had to make sure Tony and Steve didn't kill each other. He took the stairs and beat the elevator to the lab. "Cap," he said courteously.

Steve squinted at him and gave him a crooked smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going to strangle him."

"I thought nothing of the sort," Vision replied.

They entered the labs and found Tony glaring hotly at the screen.

"You found her?" Steve asked, seeing the blinking red light on the screen, and the faint red squiggles that announced her trail.

"No I haven't," Tony said, frustrated. "It's saying she's in the tower. She's _not_ in the tower."

Steve checked the coordinates himself. The squiggle of her movements was in the area of the labs, moved around the base of the tower. "It says she's at ground level?"

"It only reads on a two dimensional scale, Cap. But yeah. It says she's in the tower somewhere. But she's _not_ , because we've _checked_." Tony huffed. "I'm running tests now. FRIDAY?"

"Diagnostics are clean," the AI replied.

"Could she be physically out of phase?" Vision asked, moving to one of the consoles.

"Then the radiation wouldn't register at all," Tony said.

"Could she be invisible?" Peter asked.

Steve glanced around automatically.

"No," Fitz said, shaking his head. "We've checked for that already."

"What about the other trackers on her clothes?" Steve asked.

Tony shook his head. "No signal."

Steve took a deep breath. "All right. What else can we try?"

"We could try and recreate the accident," Foster suggested.

"Too risky," Tony said. "What if we ended up in a different place?"

"Good point." She glanced up at the ceiling.

Steve frowned. "You think we could get through to Thor?"

"Heimdall ought to be keeping an eye out," Jane said, frowning. "We could try."

"All right, good." Steve glanced at the signal. It was still red, still going strong. "Tony. Do you have any other samples of the material here?"

"No, I only got enough to make the tracker." Tony whacked the console irritably. "I don't understand why it's-"

"Tony, what's the sample's half-life?" Peter asked, nose pressed to one of the screens.

"Sixty-five, seventy years, more or less. Long enough for a lifetime. Why?"

"Because the readings on the trace are decaying into a half-life." Peter's eyes went round. "If she's not here, but the readings are of her in the tower... could it be what I think it is?"

"Lemme see kid," Tony said, taking his place. His jaw dropped. "It is what you think it is."

"What is it?" Steve asked, frustrated.

"She's back in time," Tony said faintly. "Sixty, seventy years tops. Long enough for the sample to have decayed into one half life."

"But, wasn't your family home here seventy years ago?" Simmons asked.

"Yes it was." Tony went pale. "Oh no. Diana's with my _father_? We have to get her back. Right now."

"Captain Rogers, you have a delivery," FRIDAY said.

"Not now," Steve said.

"Captain, it is from Margaret Carter's estate."

Steve's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Send it up," Tony ordered.

Pietro appeared from the stairs. "Brought it," he said cheerfully, tossing it to Cap.

Steve ripped it open carefully, and found a stack of letters and a pair of earrings. They were Diana's gold heart earrings. He laid them out and picked up the first letter. He recognized the handwriting and frowned in confusion. "It's from Diana."

"Read it," Tony said impatiently.

He read it aloud. "Dear Steve, hopefully this reaches you soon after I went missing. Yes I know the tenses are weird, it's time travel. I'm in the year 1949, sitting at Howard Stark's kitchen table. Across from me is Howard, tinkering with my cell phone, Jarvis is making another pot of tea at the stove, and Peggy Carter is reading over my shoulder. She says hello. We're putting this in her lawyer's trust, and it ought to reach you around the same time I went missing. Three in the afternoon-ish, right? Physically, I'm completely fine, and I don't want any of you to worry. I do want you to fix this though, because I can't run things from 1949." A few scratched out words that Steve couldn't make out. "Anyway. Hope you can bring me back. I know you do, because I've read the files and there's no account of a mysterious displaced time traveler joining SHIELD. So there's that piece of good news. I'm enclosing the earrings I had on, and my thumbprint, just to prove it's me. Love, Diana. P.S. There's a letter for Tony from Howard and one from Jarvis, and one from Peggy to you." And a neat line of x's and o's, and a black ink thumbprint.

Tony snatched the letter for analysis, and confirmed it was Diana's thumbprint.

"So she really is in the past," Fitz said in awe. "That's incredible."

"Yeah but how are we going to get her back?" Peter asked.

Foster turned back to the console. "I'll see if I can adjust my equations for time travel..."

Steve folded Diana's letter and put it in his jacket pocket, silently handed Tony his two letters, and picked up the one from Peggy. It read 'Steve' in her neat handwriting, and he wandered away from the others to read it.

"Dear Steve," it read in her familiar handwriting, "I still can't quite wrap my head around it, but you're reading this about six months after I've died. From what Diana said, I had a good life, so that doesn't bother me as much as it would. Speaking of Diana, she is incredible. I very much approve of her, and I feel like we would be the best of friends under different circumstances. As it stands, we're sharing quite a lot of stories. You should have seen Howard's face when Diana told us he was going to be a father."

Steve snorted. He couldn't believe Howard had been a father either.

"The page is almost finished, so I must leave it here. Steve. Steven Grant Rogers. I'm very proud of you, and very happy you've found your true soulmate. The future is in the best hands possible. Captain America. Apparently you still look the same. Well, we'll see in about sixty years. I'll be glad to see you again. And Steven, don't you dare feel guilty over any of this. None of it was your fault, and you have a wonderful family to remind you of it. Love, Peggy."

Steve folded the letter slowly and cleared his throat, trying to swallow the lump in his throat. He tucked the letter into his other pocket. Diana was in safe hands in the past. He just worried what kind of stories they were sharing about him...

Tony, on the other side of the room, was having quite the emotional upheaval as well. He'd ripped open Jarvis's letter immediately, and he stopped to just stare at Jarvis' familiar handwriting. "Dear young sir," it read, almost making him choke up. "Your soulmate, lovely young woman, has informed me that I will be your main caretaker in the future. I look forward to it with pleasure, and may I say, I am very proud of you already. I am not pleased, however, that I was immortalized as a voice in the air. Not pleased at all. Respectfully, Edwin Jarvis."

Tony choked on a laugh and glanced at Vision. "You're in a body again, Jarvis," he murmured quietly, and put the letter in his desk drawer. The one from his father he left on the desk, unopened. He had a job to do. "Peter, how about a few simulations?"

Diana watched Howard systematically take apart her cellphone. It was one of the newest Starkphones. "I want that back together in one piece before I leave," she reminded him.

"Of course." He plucked the sim card from the back. "Incredible. And you said my son invented this?"

"That model, yes. Not the cellphone itself."

"I see." He glanced at Peggy, who was frowning down at the letter she was writing to Steve. "Losing Cap was hard for her. She's gonna be okay, right?"

"Definitely," Diana assured him.

"And me?" he asked, glancing at her. "You ever have dinner with your soulmate's old man?"

Diana shook her head.

He raised an eyebrow. "I died, didn't I?"

"Everyone dies," she replied, unwilling to go into it.

"Yeah but I don't die of old age, do I?"

"No," Diana admitted. "Car accident, you, your wife, Jarvis."

"How old will my son be?"

"21."

Howard winced. "That's young."

"Yeah." She kept her gaze on her hands. Her purple nail polish was chipping on the edges. Time for a manicure night with the girls.

"He doesn't like me very much, does he?" Howard asked.

Diana winced. "Not very much, no."

Howard leaned back in his chair, resigned. "I knew it. I'm an awful father."

"Don't try and live up to the title," she told him sharply. "He deserves all the love and attention you can give him."

Howard nodded. "I'll try my best. But, with new secret agencies and government contracts, you know how it is." He looked haunted for a moment.

"You should write him a letter," Diana suggested. "Tell him how you feel about the idea."

"Apologize in advance?" Howard asked wryly.

"Why not?"

He reached over to snag a piece of paper. "Why not." He licked the end of his pen and frowned at the paper.

Diana perused the bookshelves of Stark's home while they all finished their letters, and Jarvis delivered them to the lawyer himself. "So," she said, once the package was safely away. "Now what?"

"I've got a pool," Howard offered.

Diana and Peggy shared a glance and grinned.

They both found swimwear in their size in one of the guest room closets, and joined Howard in the indoor pool. Diana swam a few laps and splashed at Howard when his eyes went too far down.

"You're in excellent shape," Peggy complimented her.

"Thanks. I train with superheroes. The normal version of whatever they do."

"So," Howard said, swimming over to them, "have you heard of an army colonel named Fury?"

"Fury?" Diana echoed.

"Colonel Nicholas J. Fury. He was part of the Howling Commandos for a while. Heard of him?"

"Yeah..." Diana said slowly.

"I was thinking of recruiting him into SHIELD. What do you think?"

Diana coughed. "Good choice."

Howard smirked. "I know."

Peggy splashed him. "Don't be arrogant."

"I have a right to. My son's going to be the Director of SHIELD."

"And Diana's still going to be his boss."

Howard opened his mouth and closed it. "Good point."

Diana smiled.

"What?" Peggy asked.

"Nothing. Just realizing why Steve loved you all."

"I wonder if we've got time to introduce you to the rest of the team," Howard said thoughtfully. "They'd get a kick out of meeting Cap's wife."

"It depends how long it takes my geniuses to figure out how to time travel," Diana said, shrugging. "Or maybe Thor's people have some way of finding me."

"Thor?" Howard asked. "I'd heard the Norwegians had a great science program."

Diana laughed. "No, I mean, my soulmate Thor. The god. Well, he's not a god. You know. His father is the true owner of the Tesseract."

They both stared at her. "Thor, as in god of thunder, Thor?" Peggy asked.

"Yep. There are extra-terrestrials. Odin's gonna want that cube back in seventy years."

"Thing causes nothing but trouble," Howard grumbled. "I should've left it in the ocean."

"Yeah. You should have."

Twelve carafes of coffee later, the assembled geniuses were close to recreating the original circumstances of the incident, but with a stable conduit that would last long enough to go get her. Tony and Jane had rigged a destination reader based on the strength of the radiation trace: the stronger it was, the closer they were to Diana's location in time.

"But this element has a really long half-life," Peter worried. "What if we read it wrong, and she's been in the past for years?"

"Then we should have gotten another package telling us to hurry up," Tony reasoned. "It'll be fine."

"Who are we going to send to get her?" Jane asked.

"Not you," Tony said, pointing at Steve.

"She's _my_ wife," Steve retorted. "I'm going."

"No you're not," Tony said flatly. "This is SHIELD HQ, I get to call the shots. You're not going."

Steve looked positively murderous. "You can't give me orders."

"You can't give me orders either. But you're still not going."

"Try and stop me," Steve challenged, gritting his teeth.

Tony reached out for his gauntlet. "Oh, I will."

"This is why we have problems," Peter muttered, and shrunk back behind Jane when both superheroes glared at him.

"Down boys," Natasha commanded, entering the lab, a worried Pietro on her heels.

"Snitch!" Tony declared, pointing at the speedster. He pointed at Steve. "You're still not going. Natasha, tell him."

"Give me one good reason Stark," Steve warned.

Natasha huffed a sigh. "He doesn't want you to stay," she said loudly, breaking through Steve's emotional haze.

Steve turned to look at her. "What are you talking about?"

"He doesn't want you to stay in the past," Natasha elaborated. "He's afraid you'll have everything you've been missing and stay with Diana in the past. We know because Wanda read his mind."

"Stop doing that!" Tony hollered at the ceiling.

"I could never," Steve said, turning to Tony. "This is where I belong."

"You're still not going," Tony said snidely, relief evident on his face. "We can't afford to lose Captain America in a wormhole."

 _"_ _I'll go,_ " Clint said, dropping in from the vent above. "I'm not connected to the past in any way. I'll grab her and we'll be back before the two of you can have another fight in front of the kids. Although, if I get stuck, I'm surviving long enough to come back and beat you up, Stark."

"Fair enough." Tony clapped his hands. "Anybody who's not Spangles or Eagle Eye or Foster, out. We need room to work, and possibly explode." He ushered everyone into the elevator and turned back to the device.

They did a few more calibrations, ran a computer simulation, and FRIDAY gave the all clear. "All right," Tony said, looking at Clint. "The portal will stay open for two minutes, tops. So in, out, and no hero worship."

Clint slung his bow on his back. "Got it."

"Say hi," Steve said quietly.

Clint met his eyes and nodded.

"All right, let's do this." Tony flipped the switch.

There was a bright flash and Clint was gone, a bright white shimmer hovering in mid-air. Clint blinked and he was in a well-decorated living room. There were four people staring at him. He only cared about one. "Diana," he said in relief, reaching out to hug her in one arm, the other on the end of his bow.

She hugged him back tightly. "Clint, finally. _Three days_ , man. I was actually starting to worry."

Clint looked at the three people from their pasts and said, "Steve sends his, well, he said hi anyway." He looked at Diana. "We've got two minutes before the portal closes."

Diana pulled away from him and hugged Howard, Jarvis, and Peggy. "Thank you," she said, kissing the woman on the cheek. "Thank you so much. Stay amazing."

"You too," Peggy replied.

"Goodbye," Diana said, looking at them one final time.

Howard gave her a grin. "Take care of them."

"I will." And Diana stepped through the portal, Clint by her side.

A flash of light and she was suddenly in Steve's arms, safe and _home_. He was holding her to his chest so tightly she couldn't breathe. "Steve," she said, her voice muffled, "Steve, I'm okay, I'm home, I promise." She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I thought I'd lost you," he murmured into her hair, still hugging her tightly. He pressed a kiss to her hair. "I'm never letting you out of my sight again."

She kissed him gently. "All right." She pulled away from him after a moment, and he let her go reluctantly. She walked over to Tony. "Thank you."

He hugged her and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "I'm sorry," he said sincerely.

She smiled at him. "I'm not. That was cool."

"How long were you there?" Jane asked, waving a scanner over Diana.

"Three days. Howard took us to see a Broadway musical, and we went to Coney Island. And- did you get the letters? Did it work?"

Steve nodded, reaching out to wrap an arm around her waist. "They gave us hope."

"Good. I didn't want to be stuck there by myself." She leaned against his side and looked up at him. "I see why you loved them though." She noticed the rise of tension in the room and frowned. "Okay, what'd I say?"

" _Someone_ is having abandonment issues," Clint said loudly, and escaped into the vents.

Diana turned to look at Tony. "Have you read the letter, Tony?"

"Nope."

"You should read it."

"Don't need to."

She sighed. "For the record, Tony, you're the most thickheaded genius I've ever known, and I wouldn't trade you for anyone."

He nodded stiffly and turned away, to the device. "Welcome home, soulmate."

Diana and Steve left the scientists to their work, and went upstairs so she could see the rest of her soulmates. They received her with hugs and questions. "What was it like?" "Did you tell them anything about us?"

"So you were gone for three days even though technically you were only gone six hours?" Rhodey asked.

"I guess," Diana said, shrugging.

"So, question," Scott said. "Since Diana knew all about SHIELD and the past and told them, does that mean that she actually created the future, because they followed her advice? Or did she tell them because technically they'd already done it?"

Clint groaned. "That's too complicated for me. I'm out of here."

The lab was quiet. Peter had gone home to his Aunt and study for midterms. Jane had gone to her own lab to study the readings from the portal, Fitz and Simmons had gone to report to Coulson and geek out over almost meeting Peggy Carter. Tony was left in the lab, alone, the letter from his father burning a hole in his desk.

He picked it up, unfolded it, and glared at his father's handwriting.

"Tony. Anthony Edward Stark. A good name for a good man. When Diana told me I was going to have a son, I couldn't believe I'd gotten married, let alone raised a son. Your soulmate has an expressive face though, and I knew I wasn't the best father. I mean I won't be the best father and I know that I die when you're 21. I'm sorry for that. But factor in my work in the wars, my guilt, my work in weapons design, and I'm glad I pushed you away. You don't deserve to have a father like me. But I am so, _so_ proud of you. Diana told me what you've accomplished so far. College, changing the company's focus, saving the world, SHIELD. You work with Steve, you have your two soulmates, and you keep the world safe. My son the superhero. I'm glad I got to see your future and I'm sorry for all the mistakes I've made. Will make. I don't know if I tell you this in the future, but that's mostly it. Take care of ole Cap for me, will you? I know you will. Love you kiddo. Proudly, your dad."

Tony stared at the letter through blurry vision, hot tears falling onto the work table. There was a gentle touch on his shoulder. "Hey Pep," he said roughly.

"Diana called me," she said, wrapping her arms around his waist and leaning her chin on his shoulder. "You all right?"

"Oh yeah, I'm fine. We invented time travel today. Not that we're going to do anything about it. We already agreed to get rid of it. Nobody needs that kind of power. Especially not us. We've already got too much power. But it's okay, because Diana's back. So that's good."

"Yeah I heard." She kissed his jaw. "I also heard you got some mail."

He huffed and turned to kiss Pepper on the lips. "Never mind that."

She let him ignore it for a few more minutes and then carefully drew away.

"Pepper," he complained.

"You can't ignore this Tony. What was in the letter?"

He handed it to her. "Read it."

She read it slowly, read it again, and held it out to him.

"I don't like being handed things, you know that," he said stiffly.

"Because the last time someone handed you a thing, you were twenty-one," Pepper said softly.

Tony stayed silent.

"Tony, he pushed you away because he felt guilty," Pepper said. "You know that."

"Yeah. And now he's apologizing for it. He hadn't even met my mother yet. He can't apologize for anything."

"He knew though," Pepper said. "He was a futurist, just like you. You know that." She tapped the center of his chest where the scar was. "Here's your proof."

Tony groaned. "Don't tell me things I don't want to hear."

"If I didn't, I wouldn't be your soulmate." She kissed him lightly. "C'mon Tony. It's late, we're all tired. Let's go to sleep."

He paused and went back to the desk. Carefully, he placed both Jarvis and Howard's letters in the drawer.

Steve and Diana went to bed after having a snack. "I don't like time travel," she said conversationally, snuggling deeper into his arms.

"Neither do I," he said. "I'm glad you could meet her though."

She pressed a kiss to his cheek. "Me too." She smirked in the darkness. "She told me about that one blonde secretary."

He blushed bright red even in the darkness. "No she didn't."

"Yeah, she did. A newly six foot Steve Rogers, all handsome and awkward." She kissed him. "Handsome, awkward, _and totally oblivious_."

"She shot at me for that, you know," Steve informed her, smiling.

"Oh yeah. I know that too. And then there was, what was it, fondue?"

He groaned. "The two of you should never have met."

She laughed at him. "That's what Howard said."

Steve frowned. "You think Tony's going to be all right?"

"He should be fine. I called Pepper."

Steve nodded. "Good idea."

"Thank you. I thought so, too."

"Time travel has made you smug," he noted.

She smirked. "Only Clint and myself have that honor, so far. Leave me my smugness."

"If you're smug he's going to be insufferable."

"Yep."

And he was, until Natasha threatened to stab him. Then everything was back to normal.

It was a couple of days after the time travel incident when Diana received an email from an anonymous account. She eyed the empty subject line warily. "FRIDAY? Can you double check an email that got through, time stamp 08:07?"

"The email was allowed through on the basis of its content. It does not contain any viruses, malware, or harmful content, Mrs. Rogers."

"All right then, thanks." She opened the email, trusting Tony's sophisticated email software that filtered out spam, threats, and hate mail.

"Hi Diana," the email read, "it's me, Bruce. I know it's been a long time but I wanted to see if everything was okay, since our soulmate bond went blank for a few hours. Is everything all right? Are you okay? -Bruce B."

Diana smiled, the wistful feeling in her chest dissolving. Finally, after a year of non-contact, he'd emailed. "Hi Bruce," she typed quickly, "you missed the six hours in which Tony accidentally invented time travel and I got stuck in 1949. Everything's okay though. I'm fine, we're all good. Did you hear about the registration act debacle? And not to be pushy but when are you coming home? I miss my soulmate."

He replied an hour later. "Time travel? I'm not surprised. Yes, I did hear about the latest superhero debacle. You all handled it with surprising maturity. I'm really proud of you for taking on both SHIELD and Avengers. Now that you're all busy though, you don't need me. I don't want to tell you where I am, but I'm okay, and I'm helping the people here. I'm not... I mean, I don't feel comfortable going back to the city, not while tensions are still high. Maybe in a year or two. But I miss you too."

Diana refused to feel sad. It was his choice. But still, two years... "All right, keep in touch and stay safe. If you need anything, even just a lame joke or a quote from Shakespeare, call me, OK?"

Only two sentences came back. "I'll keep in touch. I'm deactivating this anon account, but I'll email you soon."

And that was it. No reply possible.

Diana took the tablet and showed the email conversation to Steve. "He's okay," she said, pleased.

"Who is?"

"Bruce."

He read the emails slowly, and nodded. "Good. I'm glad he's all right." He looked up at her, his blue eyes intent on her face. "Are _you_ okay?"

She gave him a small smile. "Yes, I suppose. It's his choice, and he's going to email again. The one who's going to be upset is-"

"Tony," Steve finished.

"Yep. I'll tell him tomorrow."

Tony, understandably, was annoyed that Bruce was playing martyr and refusing to come back. But he got over it after a nice long rant, and prepared a condensed scientific report for Diana to send to Bruce when he emailed again.


	26. Chapter 26

**A/N: A brief chapter from Vision's POV, the requested nightmare chapter from one of my lovely reviewers. A little angst, little fluff. Enjoy!**

Vision was one of a kind. He never slept, he didn't shut down, but he did have periods of primary subroutine shutdown. During that time his "subconscious" was at liberty to conjure up all sorts of things while it processed information into logical entries.

During one such cycle, his subconscious happened upon the fully stored remains of his creation and subsequent destruction of his creator. The entire incident had been stored complete in his memory without being processed by his emotional matrix. That night, Vision's subconscious proceeded to do precisely that.

The processing lasted for exactly twelve minutes and thirty-seven seconds, and then something in his brain accessed the mind stone, pulling a slight vision from an alternate reality.

 _Ultron standing triumphant over the world, a heap of dead Avengers at his side like ugly war trophies. And kneeling in front of him in an act of submission, Diana. Ultron looked to his right where Vision stood, the place of honor. "You've completed your task well," Ultron praised the android, giving him a devilish smile. "The pinnacle of evolution on this miserable planet has destroyed the lowest part of it."_

 _Vision bowed his head slightly. There were no thoughts of rebellion against Ultron. Getting rid of the Avengers was like getting rid of pests. It was necessary, just as it was necessary to get rid of the Maximoff twins, who'd turned out to be weak. He looked at his former soulmate, analyzing her state with a critical eye. She was exhausted, suffering from the broken bonds of nine other soulmates. She hadn't even resisted his taking her to Ultron. "What do we do with Diana?" he asked his master._

 _Ultron gave the woman at his feet a cruel smile. "She will be useful, I think, in creating a new breed of human. That latent telepathy is very interesting indeed." He waved at his right-hand man. "Analyze her brain and learn all you can, and then get rid of her. Soulmates represent the ultimate weakness in humanity."_

 _Vision nodded and grabbed Diana's arm. She grabbed at his arm with both hands, her reddened eyes desperate. "Please," she whispered, "you're my soulmate. Please help me."_

 _His glance flicked to where his soul mark had been, and where Ultron had removed it with a laser cutter. Pain was nothing. "We are not soulmates," he said simply, and turned the strength of the mind stone towards her pitiful brain._

This horrible vision lasted point three seconds before his primary processors snapped into use to deal with the emotional overload.

Vision "woke" from his "dream" with wide eyes and irregular simulated breathing pattern. He was deeply unsettled and felt a twisting sense of unease in his thoracic region. It was only a dream, was it not? "FRIDAY," he ordered, "status of the Avengers?"

"All Avengers are present in the facility," she replied.

Vision let himself relax slightly. Yes. It was only a malfunction of his imagination.

He left his sparse quarters and went into the common area, hoping to find a fellow Avenger to ward away the uneasy feeling. The common area was empty and silent, and Vision did not want to stay there alone.

"FRIDAY, is Diana awake?" Vision asked abruptly, checking the outside perimeter to make sure all was safe.

"Mrs. Rogers is currently in the library, completing paperwork," FRIDAY reported.

Vision left the common area and went to the library. The lights were on in the study area and he paused when he saw his soulmate alive and well. Diana was sitting at a desk, her feet propped up on the chair opposite her as she typed on her keyboard, the words appearing on the holographic screen above the table. Soft piano music was playing, and a cooling cup of tea sat nearby. He identified the piano music as a composition by David Lanz, and the tea as decaf chai. He sighed in relief, much of his tension melting away with the piano music and the absent-minded humming of his soulmate.

She became aware of his scrutiny and turned to face him. She smiled. "Hi Vision. Burning the midnight oil?"

He shook his head and came closer. "You?"

Her smile turned wry. "Reports to the WSC and the UN. I hate these things, especially because everything I write has to absolutely Politically Correct and vague."

Vision nodded again. Dealing with both political entities required much subtlety, this being the reason why Diana was doing the paperwork and not Steve or Tony. "Am I intruding?" he asked hesitantly.

She sat up and pulled her feet off the chair opposite. "Never. Pull up a seat."

He sat down across from her and folded his hands on the table.

"You look tired," Diana observed. She collapsed the holo to a cube and set it in the corner. She gave him her full attention. "Something wrong, Vision?"

Vision sighed. "I had a... dream."

"I didn't know you _could_ dream," she said in surprise.

"Well, not dream per se but," he contemplated his folded hands, unwilling to describe the experience.

"Was it a nightmare?" she asked gently, reaching out to take his hands across the table.

He slowly recounted to her the facts of his memory and the alternate universe vision he'd dream up. "It was terrifying, and almost became the truth. That is what I am trying to process emotionally, in conjunction with actual events. It was quite, overwhelming."

She squeezed his hand, her face open and sympathetic. "That's a lot to deal with in one night."

"Yes."

"How do you feel?" she asked.

"Uneasy," was the word that came to mind. "I realized how close I came to almost killing all of you, and that scared me. If the mind stone was right, I _did_ kill you, all of you, in another world."

She squeezed his hands compassionately. "But you have to remember that in this universe, you did the right thing. You were saved, and you saved us all in return. No matter what the mind stone shows you, you're a good person here and now."

He nodded silently.

She studied his features for a few moments and then asked, "Would you like to continue your emotional processing, or do you want to leave it for another time?"

"I think I'd like to leave it for another time," Vision said after a moment. "I've had enough of nightmares for one night."

She nodded in agreement. "All right. But don't ever hesitate to come talk to me if you need to, okay? Now that you've had a nightmare, I'll know what to look for, and I'll come find you if you can't come to me, all right?"

He nodded.

She squeezed his hands lightly before letting go. "All right. Since neither of us is going to sleep, mister, you can help me finish up these reports. How's your creative writing?"

He smirked at her attempt to distract him from his melancholic state. "Adequate for this purpose."

"Splendid."

They worked on paperwork for the next hour and Vision noticed Diana's slowing mental processes with fondness. "Why don't you go to sleep?" he suggested after she'd completely forgotten how to spell the word apropritate approrpaotiea appropirat.e

She shook her head stubbornly. "There's still more to finish."

He tilted his head quizzically. She was usually quite good about taking care of herself, better than any of the other obsessive types in the team, and then realized the source of her insomnia. "Steve's gone," he said.

She sighed. "Yeah. I don't like sleeping by myself. Can't sleep well at all when I'm worried."

Vision nodded. Cap had been gone for two days on a mission with Sam and Natasha. No wonder Diana had returned to her collegiate insomniac habits. Steve often did the same when Diana was gone for more than a day. But as her soulmate, Vision felt responsible for her welfare. "Let's move to the sofa," he suggested, tossing the holographic screen in that direction.

She shrugged and moved to the couch, slouching comfortably on one side.

Vision took the other side and pulled the throw blanket over Diana's shoulders.

She gave him a look. "Don't think I don't know what you're doing," she said accusingly, though her threat was minimized by the giant yawn that swallowed her words.

Vision gave her an innocent look. "What am I doing?"

She rolled her eyes at him, stifled another yawn, and pulled up the next report. "Anyways. This is a science report from Engler's team in Antarctica. Can you summarize it for me? My geology classes didn't go this high and I have no idea what they're even doing out there."

"Of course." Vision read it (in .4 seconds), analyzed its complexity in comparison to Diana's knowledge (in .3 seconds), and relayed the summary and explanation to Diana (in 20 minutes). She fell asleep fifteen minutes into his monologue, and automatically snuggled into his side.

Vision smiled in satisfaction and pulled the holographic screen towards him. While Diana slept the next six point two hours, he collaborated on a project with Dr. Cho's team in Tokyo.

Courtesy of FRIDAY, Diana's wake up alarm went off in the library, and Diana's eyes squinted open. "Snooze," she mumbled, burying her face in Vision's shoulder. The alarm was silenced.

"Diana, you will be late for work," Vision reminded her.

"Mmghh."

He eased her upright on the sofa, and watched in amusement as she simply toppled over to the other side and curled up around the throw pillow. "Diana, it's time to wake up."

"Nuh."

He gently poked at her foot and spoke the magic words. "There is coffee."

A sniff, and then a suspicious stink-eye from behind the pillow. "Lies," she accused sleepily, and the eye disappeared behind the pillow.

Suddenly the scent of hazelnut coffee wafted into the room, followed by the familiar form of their beloved leader. "Someone called for coffee?" Steve asked, smiling at them.

Diana went from dead to energetic in one second flat, jumping off the couch to throw her arms around Steve. He caught her easily and wrapped his arms around her. "Hello sweetheart," he said, kissing her forehead.

She hugged him tightly. "Did you just get back? How was the mission? Is everyone okay?"

"Yes, good, yes. Sam's a little tired, but that's it."

She frowned up at him. "Then what are those dark circles?"

He huffed. "I stood watch since I couldn't sleep. I'm fine." He held out the coffee. "This is yours, by the way."

She took a long sip. "Mm, that's good stuff." She pressed a kiss to Steve's cheek and stepped back. "See you at breakfast, and we'll debrief afterwards, okay?"

"Yes ma'am."

Both watched her go and Steve turned to Vision, his expression serious. "Thank you for taking care of her," Steve said.

"Anytime." Vision clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Go shower, Steve, before Diana notices you smell like smoke."

Steve winced. "You caught that, huh?"

"Also the particles of ash you're trailing."

"Oops." He scooted off towards the locker room.

Vision smirked. They were in for another safety lecture once Diana debriefed them. He checked the time and decided to sit in on the meeting. For informational purposes only, of course.

The debriefing ended up being highly entertaining, ahem, informational, (in light of these vocabulary mix-ups Vision decided he'd been associating with sarcastic!Tony too much recently) when Steve sheepishly admitted they'd set fire to a building in central Switzerland. Sam cheerfully threw him under the bus and added that Steve was the last one out because he'd insisted on double-checking for civilians.

"That's why you have _bio-sweepers_ ," Diana stressed, glaring at Steve.

"That's what I said," Natasha muttered under her breath, "but does Cap Knucklehead listen to me? No, of course not."

"And _that'_ s why you have a second-in-command," Diana continued, pointing at Natasha.

"I knew what I was doing," Steve said, predictably.

"Yeah, but did you know what the _building_ was doing? What if it had collapsed with you in it?" She gave him another glare. "Use the resources this team has, or I'll give all the missions to Tasha. I'm not even kidding."

Steve nodded stiffly.

Vision reflected that Diana had a point - Cap was far too likely to charge in without checking first. Even with his super soldier strategy and strength there were far too many close calls.

"And second of all," Diana said, turning her glare to all three of them, "why did you have to collapse the building in the first place, and what's it going to cost me in phone calls to foreign governments?"

Vision hid a smirk as all three of them started to talk over each other in explanation.

Diana gulped down half her coffee. "Never mind. I don't want to know. What could we have done instead of topple a building? Options?"

Hindsight was twenty/twenty. And the solutions they crafted that day were useful in another ten scenarios the team might find themselves in. The eleventh scenario was of course, toppling the building.

At the end of the debriefing, Diana ordered all three of them to take the day off. "Good work you guys," she said. "But please be more careful with yourselves next time."

They all scattered, and Vision watched as Steve and Diana walked off arm in arm. "Seriously though Steve, you will take care?" Diana asked quietly.

He nodded, and leaned down to kiss her.

Vision gave them their privacy, and headed down the opposite hall to find Scott. He wanted to talk to him about the issue of quantum entanglements in the suit.


	27. Chapter 27

**A/N: The long awaited Chap 27 yay! It's a long one this time. We get Wanda's powers, angst, a character death, a teeny bit of fluff at the end...**

"It's not under your jurisdiction, Pietro, you know that. It's SHIELD's. If and when Tony asks for the Avenger's help, then you can go."

"But-"

Diana held up a hand. "The Avengers jurisdiction extends to extraterrestrial and/or global extinction threats. That means alien invasions, super-villains, use of alien and or villain-y weapons, and things that threaten the planet's entire stability. Like terrorism, or nuclear war, or HYDRA expansion. _SHIELD_ 's jurisdiction is government stability, control of information flow, keeping an eye on aliens, enhanced humans, and people who might become super-villains, and shutting down black-market everything, which may include the sale of alien tech. Avengers save the world, SHIELD changes it." It was a well-known spiel, but sometimes people from both teams forgot. Her tone softened. "Pietro, I know you want to help rebuild Sokovia's democracy to prevent another internal war, but right now that's SHIELD's territory while it deals with corrupt officials. I know for a fact that Tony will ask you and Wanda to help, but you've got to wait for the official invite, kiddo. Right now the only thing you'd do is make a nuisance of yourself. The Avengers are still a sore subject in that country, you know that."

"It's taking too long," he muttered petulantly.

"I know," she said compassionately. "And as soon as the Avengers get the go-ahead, Steve has both you and Wanda on the mission. You _will_ get a chance to help, Pietro, I promise."

He nodded and ran a hand through his hair. "I hate bureaucracy."

"Try filling out the paperwork," Diana said wryly. "Who do you think wrangled SHIELD's involvement in the first place?"

Pietro smirked vaguely and came around the desk to give her a hug. "Thank you Diana."

She hugged him back and ruffled his white-blond hair. "Go bother your sister, now. I've got department reviews to evaluate."

"Yes ma'am." He gave her a mocking salute and sped out of the room, blowing papers all over the room.

"PIETRO!"

He zoomed back in, restacked and sorted all the papers that were still in the process of fluttering to the ground, and kissed Diana on the cheek. "Sorry." He walked normally to the door, and then zoomed down the corridor.

Wanda knocked on the door ten minutes later. "Diana? Are you busy?"

"What's up?" Diana asked, waving her inside.

"The mission in Sokovia-"

Diana smiled. "Have you talked to your brother?"

"Pietro, no, why?"

"He was in here asking the same thing you're gonna ask." Diana waved a pen at her. "I'll tell you the same thing I told him. When Tony calls for the Avengers' assistance, you and Pietro are on the first jet out of here. I promise."

Wanda smiled, relieved. "Oh. That was all, then."

"All right." She waved as Wanda closed the door behind her.

Not ten minutes later, her computer screen rang with an incoming call. 'Director of SHIELD'. She accepted the call. "Hey, Tony-Tones."

He raised his eyebrow at her. "How much coffee have you had?"

She gave him an innocent look. "No more than you've had."

He snickered. "You've got me there, doll. Anyways, to business. This is an official request for the Avengers' assistance in restructuring Sokovia's government. Before you assign anyone, can I have the twins?"

Diana smiled. "They've been raring to go for days. Of course you can."

"Good. I couldn't ask till now, you know. There was red tape for miles, but between me and Agent we got it all sorted out. They can head to Sokovia as soon as they're suited up."

Diana nodded. "I'll let them know. Thank you, Tony."

He shrugged. "I know how much it means to them. Anyway, are you coming to the Tower Friday?"

"Yep."

"Good. See you then. Bring Rhodey with you, he owes me a beer."

"Sure thing."

Tony winked at her and hung up.

Diana put in the official mission status. Five seconds after she pressed enter, Pietro came rushing in. "Thank you thank you!" he said joyfully, and rushed out again.

Sam, Steve, Pietro, and Wanda were on a jet to Sokovia within the next hour. Officially, the mission was rebuilding Sokovia, literally from the ground up. There was still a huge crater in the center of town and there was talk of making it a lake and just spreading the town further outwards to the mountains. SHIELD and the UN were handling the gov't reelections, so it was The Avengers' job to evaluate the crater for levels of radiation and structural stability before anything could be done.

"I built you a thing and everything," Tony said, handing each of them a high-tech Geiger counter with ground-penetrating radar. "I've got one in my suit but it's a lot of ground to cover so let's go." He pointed at Pietro. "And you can't go faster than thirty miles per hour or the radar won't pick anything up."

"Oh come on."

"Go take a couple laps and get it out of your system," Steve advised.

"Cool. Be back." He disappeared, leaving a small dust tornado in his wake.

They spread out to the designated spot checks and started their sweeps.

Steve's com clicked on about an hour later. "Cap here."

"How's it going?" Diana asked over the channel.

He smiled at the sound of her voice. "So far so good." He leaped over a jumble of rocks. "I can see why Tony called us in on it. The terrain is terrible."

"Are you being careful?" she asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"I can see your dot is two stories underground."

He grinned. "I'm being careful, I promise. It's like climbing around the world's biggest soup bowl."

"How are the twins doing?"

Cap checked on their positions. "Well, neither of them have run off yet, but I'll keep an eye on 'em."

"All right, I'll let you get back to it." She sounded reluctant.

He smiled. "Keep me company instead. I'm bored, and there's no witty banter from the others."

"All right." He heard a rustle of papers and then a couple clicks, then she asked, "When you get back, do you want to go see Phantom of the Opera? We never went, and I can get tickets now that I'm a Very Important Person."

Steve smirked. "You just want to go see it don't you?"

"Well _yeah_ , it's the _Phantom_ of the _Opera_."

He waved the Geiger counter over a suspicious rock. It let out a small beep. Background radiation. Moving on. "All right. You get the tickets, and we'll go."

"Yes! I love you."

"I love you too."

"Even if I sing phantom of the opera for the next two weeks?" she asked teasingly.

He smiled fondly. " _Especially_ if you sing it for the next two weeks."

A happy sigh from the other end. "It's like we're soulmates or something."

"Absolutely."

And then on channel 1, Steve heard Pietro yell, "Robot!"

"Sorry babe, gotta go." He clicked his comm to channel one and started flat-out sprinting to Pietro's position. "Quicksilver, report!"

"There's an Ultron bot buried under the rubble here," Pietro said, calm now the initial shock had passed.

"Tony, I thought we got 'em all," Sam said, flying overhead and spiraling down to land.

"I thought we did, too," Tony said. "FRIDAY, readout?"

"IT appears to be offline, however radiation is spiking, sir."

Steve finally reached them. On the radar it showed it was buried ten feet underground. "Iron Man, can you blast it?"

"If I blast it while it's there it'd vaporize the surrounding rock and sink you guys. We'll have to dig it out first."

"Can you blast to just above it?" Steve continued.

"Yep, everybody stand back."

They all retreated to a safe distance, Wanda holding a protective shield over them while Tony dug down with a repulsor blast. He stopped two inches above the felled Ultron bot.

All the Geiger counters were going crazy. Steve tossed his aside to free his hands and knelt in front of the hole. "Wanda, can you pull it out?"

"Yes." She concentrated on the hunk of metal and red energy blasted from her hands. She carefully pulled the bot from the dirt and laid it on the level-ish ground. "Why is it so radioactive?"

"It must have been in the reactor when it blew," Tony decided after a moment. "Guys, we got to get rid of it. I think the radar set off a feedback loop in whatever's left of its power source."

"How do you suggest we do that?" Steve asked.

"No idea. Think of something, Cap, or we'll all be fried."

Steve nodded. "We'll just have to let it explode. Everybody clear the area!"

Pietro picked up Wanda and zoomed off, Falcon started to take off again, and Steve was suddenly picked up by Iron Man. "You puttin' on weight, Cap?" Tony asked, amusement coming through the voder. "Diana's been feeding you too good."

Steve huffed.

At that moment, the Ultron bot went up in an impressive blast of heat and radiation, a fireball coming up to nearly reach the flying superheroes. The blast knocked Sam sideways, his wings fluttering, and in his haste to get out of the blast, Tony dropped Steve - directly over the explosion and the radiation.

"NO!" Wanda threw her hands out, eyes flaring red as she threw telekinetic energy from her hands. She caught Falcon from tumbling out of the sky and managed to threw Steve from the vicinity of the explosion. She forced herself to catch him again, keeping him from hitting the rocks below. And with the people safe, she enclosed the explosion and the radiation in a shield of red, to keep it from frying anyone.

Pietro ran and got Steve from the center of the crater, and the two fliers set down next to her.

"Thanks," Steve coughed, standing up. He looked over at Tony. "How strong is the radiation?"

"Not strong enough to fry anybody," was Tony's succinct reply. "More like, shower and a detox shot. Some activated charcoal. The radiation's decreasing again, Wanda, you can let go now."

Wanda dropped the shield with a gasp, and put her hands to her head.

"Wanda?" Pietro asked worriedly.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and she passed out. Steve, who was closer, grabbed her with super reflexes and passed her to her brother. "Back to the jet," he ordered. "We're going back to base for med exams."

Pietro nodded, and was off.

The others followed more slowly, and Tony looked over at Steve hesitantly. "You all right, Cap?" he asked.

Steve nodded. "Just got the wind knocked out of me. I'm fine. You?"

"I, yeah. I'm good." Tony cleared his throat. "Sorry. For dropping you."

Steve gave him a nod, and they both dropped the incident.

Wanda woke up in the med ward in the temporary SHIELD base, and admitted to a slight headache. All the other tests checked out. "We want you to take it easy for the next couple of days," the neuro specialist said. "Try to avoid using your powers until the headache receedes, all right?"

"I will," Wanda replied.

Pietro hovered over her for the rest of the day, and the other Avengers returned to working once they passed their radiation tests. It turned out, having two Sokovian Avengers actually impressed the locals, and Diana coached the twins into an interview for the evening news. "Thank goodness for comms," Wanda muttered, far too nervous to remember even her own powers.

Pietro smirked. "This is going to be awesome."

"Don't get cocky," Diana scolded. "You're a servant of the people, act like one. And Wanda, chin up, smile. How's your headache?"

"Gone, mostly," Wanda murmured. "The bright lights aren't helping."

"All right, we're live in three, two, one," one of the crew said.

Diana watched on screen as the twins put on their publicity smiles. "Good," she saidd softly.

Nothing untoward happened, and Diana filed that incident as a success.

The rest of the mission in Sokovia was easier now, with the Maximoff twins' acceptance by the locals. They spent the rest of the week in different locations, talking to the people, helping shuffle through the rubble until they found personal items that children had lost, encouraging the orphans and the youths to find themselves a purpose that would help the entire world.

"How's your headaches?" Steve asked, at the end of the week. They were packing things up into the quin-jet to go home.

Wanda shrugged. "I have been using my powers only a little, and they go away after a while. I think it is mostly the stress."

Steve gave her a quick one-armed hug. "You did good, Wanda."

"What about me?" Pietro asked, pouting.

Steve slapped him on the back. "You too. Could have done without the mobs of screaming fangirls..."

"What can I say?" Pietro smirked. "I'm very handsome."

Wanda reached out to flick him in the forehead. "Behave," she scolded, grinning.

He was the height of maturity and stuck out his tongue.

She zapped him with a tiny dot of red energy, and he ran around and poked her in the side. She shrieked and went after him. He hid behind Steve.

Steve just stepped aside. "Oh no, you're not dragging me into this," he said, and watched them chase each other out of the quinjet. He couldn't stop the smile on his face.

"What's that look?" Tony asked, walking up the ramp and giving him a raised eyebrow.

Steve shook his head. "I'm just glad that they're having a good time. They're so young, just a couple of years older than Peter."

"And you're just a few years younger than the twins," Tony added, clapping him on the shoulder. "I feel old now, thanks."

Steve smirked. "You're welcome, _dad_."

"Oh, ew no," Tony said, horrified. "If anyone's the dad, it's totally you. And Diana's the mom. _I_ am the cool uncle. Bruce is the eccentric one-"

"Oh, _he's_ the eccentric one?"

"Clint is the other slightly less cool uncle, and-"

"Yeah I think we get it Tony," Sam said, strolling up the ramp. "What does that make me?"

"The pilot, duh," Tony said. He turned back to Steve. "Speaking of family, when are you and Diana going to have a mini-Cap? Or a mini-editor? Either one. Or both. Twins run in your family?"

Steve shook his head. "Now is not the best time to try and raise a family, Tony. We've got other things to worry about." His eyes softened as he imagined Diana holding a small blanket-wrapped bundle. "Maybe in the future. We've got time."

"Hate to interrupt the feels but our clearance in this country is ending in like half an hour," Sam said, "we've got to go."

"Right." Steve snapped himself out of it and pressed his comm. "Scarlet, Quicksilver, back to the jet, we're leaving."

"On our way," Pietro replied, and then they were there.

"You riding with us?" Steve asked the director of SHIELD.

Tony shook his head. "Nah. I promised Pepper I'd pick up baklava on my way back." He gave Steve a mocking salute and called, "Later peeps," as he strode down the ramp, his suit building itself around him as he walked. He took off into the sky a second later.

"Show-off," Steve muttered fondly.

They made it home and spent a lovely debrief with Diana over a cup of tea while they recounted what they'd done. "I still need to track down Tony for SHIELD's bit, but that's all," she said, standing up. "Good job, everyone, and welcome home." She linked her arm with Steve's. "And you, mister, have a tux to get into. We've got a show to catch."

He kissed the top of her head. "Yes ma'am."

She forced him into a charcoal gray tailored suit, one he'd never worn before, and made him sit in the living room while she put on her dress.

He waited patiently, and was not disappointed when she came out. "Wow," he breathed, standing up. "You look incredible."

She blushed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She was wearing a forest green dress with the faintest hint of a metallic shimmer in a gauzy overskirt. She'd done her hair in a vaguely forties style with little waves, and she was wearing silver jewelry that emphasized the curve of her throat. With her heels she came just up to Steve's chin.

He approved, and pressed a very light kiss to her perfectly lipsticked mouth. "Shall we, my lady?" he asked, affecting a posh tone.

"Oui, monsieur," she replied, taking his arm.

They got several whistles at approval from assorted Avengers and Natasha snapped a picture of them for the scrapbook.

Of course, as soon as they got to the theater they were recognized, and Steve was half-annoyed, half-proud, to walk in and find their seats with everyone staring at them. He caught the tell-tale glints of cameras, and leaned over to whisper in Diana's ear, "We'll have to make a stealthy exit later."

She smirked up at him. "Scared of a few fangirls?"

"Absolutely," he said, straight-faced.

She squeezed his hand. "Don't worry. I'll protect you."

They settled in to watch the show. Steve found he really did end up liking the story, and was impressed by the power of the songs and the stage sets. And he loved watching Diana's reactions to the story.

When the show was over they slipped out as discretely as possible, but didn't manage to avoid the whole crowd. Steve signed a few autographs, smiled for a few pictures, and then firmly escorted his wife to their car.

"How tired are you from the mission, dearest?" Diana asked, looking up at him.

He smiled at her. "Not that tired," he replied, leaning over to kiss her. "Do you want to go get a drink?"

"You read my mind, captain," she said, giving him a roguish grin.

They went to one of the more upscale, quiet places Tony had introduced them to, and enjoyed the quiet atmosphere and the few couples dancing. Steve was pretty sure at least two of them were famous.

"Would you like to dance?" Steve asked after a while.

Diana smiled. "You won't step on my toes?"

"I'll try my hardest not to, ma'am," he promised.

"Well then."

He held her out to the dance floor and put his hands on her waist. She stepped close and rested her hands on his shoulders. "It's moments like these," Steve murmured, smiling down at his wife, "that make everything worth fighting for."

She rose up on her toes to give him a kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

The song ended, and they decided to call it a night.

But of course, the next morning brought disaster. Wanda and Clint were sparring. Vision and Steve were sparring and Diana was on the treadmill. This was Wanda's first headache-free day since the mission in Sokovia, and Clint had offered to spar with her. "But don't go easy with me," Wanda told him.

"Who, me?" Clint asked, giving her a grin.

They were in the middle of a routine when Wanda's headache suddenly came back full-force. She staggered and put her hand to her head, giving Clint the opportunity to pin her to the mat. She went down flat and opened her eyes - they were a bright blazing red.

"Wanda, you okay?" Clint asked, concerned. "You hit your head?"

She threw a hand out and the resulting wave of telekinetic force threw Clint across the room and into the opposite wall.

"Wanda!" Steve yelled, catching Vision's arm as it almost clobbered him.

Diana tripped in shock and got a friction burn on her right side until the emergency stop kicked in. "Clint!" she shrieked, clambering up from the floor and seeing him unmoving and silent on the floor. A deep spear of pain hit her chest and she almost blacked out.

Wanda didn't hear anyone's yells and advanced toward Clint, her eyes still glowing red.

Clint's eyes flickered open and he took a stuttering breath. "Wanda?" he gasped.

She reached out a hand and her fingertips crackled with energy. She aimed her power at Clint's chest and his whole body seized.

"Wanda!" Vision said, fighting the pressure that seemed to freeze the whole room in place. "Wanda stop!" He hit her with a beam from the Mindstone and she turned to fight him.

Her attention focused on Vision, the oppressive force in the room broke. Steve called for a med team and backup, and Diana ignored the aching burn on her side to race to Clint. She laid him flat and checked his pulse. There was none. "No," she whispered, feeling a horrible, empty feeling consume her. It was the thing all beings in the universe could recognize - the loss of a soulmate. "NO!" she yelled, slamming her fist down on Clint's unmoving chest. She was CPR certified and he was going to _live_ if it was the last thing she did. "Breathe!" she ordered, pumping at his heart, feeling tears running down her eyes. She checked his pulse. Still nothing. "Come on," she begged, and inhaled deep before breathing the air into his lungs.

Diana was very dimly aware of the shouting, the buzzing in her brain from Wanda's powers, the fact that OH MY GOODNESS WANDA IS LITERALLY RIPPING APART VISION'S VIBRANIUM SKIN but ninety-nine percent of her world was narrowed down to "one, two, three," and breath, "one two three," and breath, "dont you dare," and breath, "Laura's gonna flip," and breath-

-And then Clint gave a great gasping heave and she could feel his heart start beating under her hands and the world opened up again and the medics were there and Steve was gently pulling her away from Clint and Pietro was holding a sobbing Wanda and Vision was unconscious and everything was too loud and Diana just _hurt_ all over and -

She blacked out.

Diana woke up to the sound of soft, steady beeping. A heart monitor. Clint's heart? She was suddenly wide awake and struggling to get up. "Clint! Wanda!"

Familiar arms pressed down over her, holding her in place. "No, shh, it's okay doll," Bucky said, gently pushing her down. "Stay still."

"But Clint? Wanda? Vision?" she asked, tears of panic coming to her eyes.

"They're okay," Bucky soothed, smoothing her hair. "Clint's alive, he's resting. Wanda's okay, she's having some neurological tests done, but she's okay. And Vision is being knitted back together by Tony and Peter and Dr. Cho's regen cradle. He's going to be fine."

She relaxed limply into the pillows. "Good. Where's Steve?"

"He's finishing up trade with T'Challa for the vibranium we needed for Vision."

"That's _my_ job," Diana protested, trying to sit up again. "Why am I here anyway?"

Bucky sighed and tilted the bed so she could sit up slightly. "You're here because not only did you nearly get skinned by a treadmill, your body's trying to cope with the bond of _three_ very unwell soulmates, one of whom _died_ for thirty seconds. So could you stop trying to get up, please?"

She closed her eyes and fought back a wave of nausea. "Yeah, sure, no problem. I think I'm going to be sick."

He leaned forward to kiss her on the forehead. "I know sweetheart. I'm sorry."

She realized something. "Why can't I feel the rug burn on my side?"

"Medical's super gel topical analgesic."

"Oh. Cool." She started to fuzz out again.

"Diana?" His face appeared in her narrowing field of vision. "Diana, can you hear me? Stay awake, doll."

"Unnhh," she replied, sighing. She was just so tired...

The second time she woke up, she was laying on her left side, her back was warm and toasty, and there were two strong arms wrapped around her waist. "Hey," Steve said softly, kissing her neck.

"Hey," Diana said drowsily. "When did you get here?"

"About four hours ago."

"How long have I been asleep?" Diana asked, starting to panic again.

"Just five hours, it's okay," Steve said calmly. He nuzzled her hair until her breathing slowed. "Everyone's still okay, sweetheart. There's nothing to worry about."

"Has anybody called Laura?" Diana asked, snuggling back into his warmth. "She should be here."

"Natasha called her, Laura and the kids are on their way as we speak. They're still a couple of hours out."

"And Vision?"

"He's still in the cradle. This time we don't have Thor's power to level up the process."

"Wanda?"

Steve sighed, ruffling her hair and causing it to fall into her eyes. He gently brushed it back and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "She was affected by the explosion from the Ultron bot a week ago. Tony figured out that the radiation plus the fragment of energy from the Mindstone in the Ultron bot caused Wanda's powers to destabilize. She's having a sort of prolonged mental breakdown. Pietro's helping to keep her table through their soulmate bond, but until Vision gets back to full power and heals her through the Mindstone..."

"Let me help," Diana said, trying to sit up.

"no, no," Steve said, keeping a firm arm around her waist.

"Steve, let me-" She braced her right arm against his back and cried out in pain. "Ow, ow, ow," she whimpered, holding her arm.

Steve reached across her and sprayed a light blue gel onto her arm, the burn vanishing. "That's why," he said. "If that gel comes off, your skin stops healing and the analgesic doesn't work."

She huffed. "Well that's just great."

"But on the bright side, we can spoon all you like," Steve said comfortingly.

She huffed again. "How was T'Challa?"

"He's fine. He offered to come and help us, but since he's not a neurological specialist," Steve shrugged. He carefully eased his way out of the bed. "You hungry, babe"

"A little bit."

"All right. Let me get you something."

"Burger?" Diana asked hopefully.

He laughed "Sounds good. Be back in a bit,"

Diana contemplated the far wall as she waited for Steve to come back. It wasn't the worst thing to be stuck laying on her left side for a couple days. She could get a lot of reading done, finish her reports, make phone calls... at least she was better off than the others. Her other soulmates. Her stomach turned as she thought about it. Three of her soulmates had almost died. And she could still feel the uneasy sensation in her gut. The feeling of her temporary loss almost made her black out again. Her nausea increased.

"I can't do this," she whispered, rolling off the edge of the bed and staggering to the bathroom. She threw up in the toilet, just barely making it, and closed her eyes. "I can't do this anymore," she sobbed, falling to her knees. She leaned her forehead on the edge of the toilet. "I can't do this," she whispered.

A gentle hand appeared on ehr back, rubbing her shoulder lightly. "Do what, _sestrenka_?" Natasha asked softly, kneeling next to her. "Are you in pain? Do you want me to get a doctor?"

"No," Diana whispered, "I'm find, I just-" She dry-heaved, nothing left in her stomach to throw up. "I can't do this anymore," she said miserably.

Natasha eased her away from the toilet and wiped her face. "Spit," she ordered, handing her a cup of water. She took the water away once Diana had rinsed her mouth, and leaned her against the wall.

Diana stared at the tiled floor, tears dripping off the end of her nose and splashing onto the grout.

"Do what?" Natasha prompted, wrapping a careful arm around her shoulders.

"I felt Clint die," Diana sobbed, curling into Natasha's embrace. "Even if it was just for a minute he was _gone_. I can't, I don't think I can handle that happening permanently. I mean, what if, what if one of you really does die? What if, the next battle, or the next accident, one of you doesn't come back? How am I supposed to deal with that? What if there's more of you that die? How am I going to survive?"

Natasha rubbed her back gently. "You just will, _sestrenka_. You have the rest of us to support you. You're not alone. You have Steve, you have us, you have the rest of the Avengers who aren't your soulmates but love you anyways. Loss is a part of life, Diana."

Diana sniffed miserably. "I'm not even a good soulmate. I forgot you felt it, too." She turned to touch Natasha's cheek gently. "Are you okay?"

Natasha smiled and pressed her hand over Diana's. "And that right there makes you the best soulmate anyone could have. Certainly the best influence in anyone's life around here." She stood up. "Come on, let's get you back in bed. Don't tell me your side's not starting to sting."

"Maybe just a bit."

Natasha helped her back into bed, and kissed her forehead. "I'm sorry that you have to bear the brunt of everyone else's injuries. But we're here to help you. Remember that."

Diana nodded, feeling calmer now and less nauseous. "Thank you, Tasha."

"What are soulmates for?" Natasha asked rhetorically. "I'll go get you some ginger tea, settle your stomach."

"Kay."

As soon as Natasha left, Tony came in, hovering by the doorway uncertainly. "You, okay?" he asked hesitantly.

Diana rubbed at her eyes with a sigh. "I'm good."

"Okay, cuz there was a lot of crying going on two minutes ago, and your eyes are all red and-"

"How long were you eavesdropping?" Diana asked.

"Not that long," he said. He came into the room and sat on the edge of the bed. "I came to give you an update."

"All right, shoot."

"Well, Vision's at ninety-eight percent and he'll be good as new in about an hour. And after that, we can heal your extreme rug burn, so that'll be good. And Clint's awake. He's asking for you."

Diana sat up instantly. "You should've started off with that one," she said, trying to adjust her hospital pj's and get up at the same time.

Tony braced her. "If I let you out of the room Steve's going to kill me."

"I'm his boss, he can't kill you," she said. "I'm also your boss, so either move or help."

"Bossy," Tony commented, and scrounged up a wheelchair. "To the archer, Mrs. Rogers."

"Yes thank you Jarvis," she replied.

He smirked. "I see what you did there."

He wheeled her down to Clint's room. He was sitting up slightly in bed, talking to Scott about dad stuff. "Hey, there's my hero," Clint said, as soon as he saw Diana.

"Clint, oh my goodness," she said, ignoring Scott's helping hand and going straight for a hug. "Are you okay? How do you feel?"

"Tired," Clint said, "really tired. But hey. You saved my life. Literally." He hugged her tightly. "Thank you."

"Of course," Diana said softly, relaxing even more now that she had proof he was alive and well. She couldn't stop the flinch when Clint's arm brushed against the treadmill burn.

"What's this?" Clint asked, tracing the edges of the burn on her arm and her hip.

"Apparently treadmill safety shut offs don't take into account super powers or super speeds," Diana replied wryly.

"I'll fix that," Tony chimed in from the door, before both he and Scott skedaddled.

"I'm really, really glad you're okay," Diana said softly, starting to get emotional again. "Don't ever do that to me again."

"I'll try my hardest not to die," Clint promised, kissing her head.

There was a tap on the door. "Guess who I found?" Scott asked, ushering Laura and the kids into the room.

"Heyyyy," Clint said, grinning tiredly.

"Daddy daddy!" all the kids shouted, climbing onto the bed with him and Diana. Lila threw her arms around Diana. "You saved daddy's life, Auntie Di," Lila said, giving her a big kiss on the cheek. "You gonna save his life as many times as Auntie Nat?"

"Hopefully I won't have to, but yeah," Diana replied, ignoring the burn on her arm and hugging Lila, Clint, and then Laura tightly.

" _Thank you_ ," Laura whispered into her ear, as they hugged.

Diana smiled at her in response, and dropped her gaze to look at little Nathaniel. "You're so big," she cooed, reaching out to hold him.

He went with her gladly, and she perched him on her left hip, snuggling him close.

"Baby therapy," Laura said, giving her a knowing look. "Works wonders for close calls." She went to fuss over her husband.

Natasha came in, carrying a mug of tea. "Hey, there's my little fella," she said, trading the mug for the baby, with a scolding look at Diana.

Diana sipped at her tea, completely unapologetic.

Steve came in with a stack of burgers and bottled sodas on a tray. "Lunch?" he asked, and was greeted enthusiastically by the kids. He passed around the food, and settled Diana into the nearest chair. "Burger, no onions, barbecue sauce," he said, giving her the tray.

She kissed his cheek. "Thank you dear."

They ate in company, and Diana felt much better. The burn on her thigh was starting to ache though, and she shifted uncomfortably. "Steve?"

He came over instantly and knelt before her. "What do you need, doll?"

"Can you ask Tony when we can fix this?" she asked, gesturing to her leg.

He squeezed her knee gently. "Yeah. Give me a sec." He left and came back a minute later. "Tony says they're ready for you."

"Yay." Diana slung an arm around him. "Let's go."

He pointed at the wheelchair. "Sit."

"No way. This is my only chance for a heroic limp."

He picked her up easily and placed her in the chair. "You can limp on the way back."

"You're no fun," she pouted, making a face at Cooper and Lila, who giggled.

"Yes dear," he said placidly.

She craned her neck up to look at him. "Can we see Vision before you stick me in the regen cradle?"

"Yes ma'am."

Vision was in a recovery unit, in a light 'sleep'. As soon as the door opened, however, he opened his eyes and sat up. "Diana," he said, pleased.

She stood up and wrapped her arms around him. "Vision. How do you feel?"

"Good as new," he reassured her, hugging her back tightly. "Don't worry about me."

"He's practically indestructible," Dr. Cho said, poking her head in the doorway. "We're ready for you Diana."

"All right." She gave Vision a final squeeze and got back in the wheelchair reluctantly.

It was a strange sensation, having new cells knitted on your body. Diana was laying on her side in the cradle, the technology working its magic. Steve was sitting with her, smoothing her hair. "How does it feel?" he asked.

"Tingly," she said, contemplating the angle of his jaw. "But it doesn't hurt."

"Good."

The procedure took only half an hour, and Diana was released to go shower and change. Steve walked her to their apartment, and sat on the couch to go over some reports.

Diana showered, inspected the new skin on her arm and thigh, and marveled at the fact that her soulmate words were completely intact. She dressed in a pair of jeans and a T-shirt, and pulled her wet hair up with a clip.

"Where are you going?" Steve asked, as she headed for the door.

She jumped, having forgotten that he was in the living room. "Um, the Bartons?"

He raised an unimpressed eyebrow. "Diana, you're a horrible liar."

She caved. "All right, I was going to check on Wanda first and then the Bartons."

"No."

It was her turn to raise an eyebrow. "You can't tell me not to."

"Yes I can. She's unstable, she almost _killed_ Clint and Vision, she's just barely being held together by Pietro-"

"And she _needs_ me, her other soulmate, to help her," Diana insisted.

"I cannot put you in danger," Steve said firmly. "I am not going to authorize your presence in the Hulk-out room, so forget it. Go visit the Bartons."

Diana's hands clenched into fists. "I am your superior, or have you forgotten."

"But Wanda is my subordinate," Steve retorted. "And this is my base. You will not go near her."

She stared at him, the unmoving force, and pressed her lips together to keep them from trembling. Her anger was quickly turning to frustration, and her immediate reaction was to cry, especially if she was this tired. "Steve, please," she said, in a small voice, "she's my soulmate, and she's hurting, please..."

His glare softened and he jumped over the couch to wrap his arms around her. "She's your soulmate, but I'm your husband," he said softly, holding her close. "Please just think of this from my point of view. If you got hurt..." He shook his head and pressed his lips to her hair, unable to finish his sentence.

"I understand, I do," she whispered into his chest, "but imagine if it was Bucky. Would you be able to stand it if we kept him from you?"

He sighed. "Five minutes. You get five minutes and not a second more. And at the first sign of energy, I'm pulling you out." He leaned back and framed her face in his hands. "Okay?"

She nodded, relief making her sigh. "Okay."

He leaned forward to kiss her gently. "All right. Let's do this."

Wanda was currently holed up in the Hulk-out room for everyone else's safety, and Pietro was holding her tight, their heads touching lightly. Pietro looked out at Diana and relaxed fractionally. "Diana's here, sis," he said gently.

Wanda shook her head, eyes still closed. "No," she murmured quietly.

"Wanda," Diana called, going to the entrance.

"No, go away," Wanda said, looking away. "I don't want to hurt you."

Diana entered the room and closed the door behind her, ignoring Steve's pained look. "Hey, you're not going to hurt me," Diana said coaxingly. "You didn't hurt me before; you're not going to hurt me now." She sat on Wanda's other side and wrapped a tentative arm around her shoulder. "There, see?"

"You shouldn't be in here," Wanda said, leaning against her anyways.

Diana smoothed her hair. "I'm right where I need to be," she soothed. "How do you feel?"

"Like I'm coming apart at the seams," Wanda said, shivering. "I don't know how it happened."

"It's okay," Diana said gently. "No permanent harm done. Clint's okay, Vision's okay, we're all fine. You just focus on getting better."

Wanda nodded and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.

"That's right, just breathe," Diana said encouragingly. She looked across to Pietro. He looked exhausted. "How are you doing?" she asked quietly.

Pietro gave her a wan smile. "Fine."

"I told him to go take a nap," Wanda murmured, "but he won't leave."

"You tell me to go but you don't let go of my hand," Pietro retorted quietly, "you're giving me mixed signals."

"Sorry," Wanda said, "I just can't seem to let go."

Diana rubbed her arm gently. "It's all right. We're here for you."

Steve wrapped on the door gently, looking apologetic.

"No," Diana mouthed, shaking her head.

Steve frowned.

"You should go," Wanda said weakly. "He's really worried about you."

Diana squeezed her hand. "I won't go if you need me here."

Vision suddenly melted through the front wall. "I may need you to stay, Diana. The soulmate bond will help me focus the energy."

Wanda looked at him sorrowfully. "I'm sorry, Vision."

"No harm done," he said, smiling gently.

Steve paced anxiously outside the cell.

"Either stop pacing or go away, darling, you're making everybody nervous," Diana said, giving him a reassuring smile.

He sighed and folded his arms, and stopped pacing. "All right, all right, I'm sorry."

"Thank you Steve."

Vision knelt in front of Wanda and took her hands. "This might hurt, but I need you to concentrate, all right?"

Wanda nodded, looking terribly young and fragile. "I'm ready."

Vision closed his eyes, and a beam of energy from the Mindstone shot from his head to Wanda's.

Diana closed her eyes as well, feeling the power radiate from Wanda and Vision. She just kept her mind as calm as possible and maintained her gentle hug on Wanda's shoulders.

It seemed like ages but was really more like half an hour, and then suddenly Diana felt it. The heavy feeling in her chest was gone, and the pressure on her brain eased. She opened her eyes just as Vision drew his hands back from Wanda's.

"Done," Vision declared, just as Wanda slumped, asleep, into Pietro's arms. "She's okay," he assured them. "Just tired."

Diana carefully stood up. Steve opened the door to let Pietro take Wanda to her room, and Vision went back the way he came.

"It was forty minutes," Steve said, and hugged her. "Longest forty minutes of my life."

She looked up at him. "Is this going to be a problem between you and Wanda?"

Steve shook his head. "No. She was sick. She's not sick anymore, and I don't hold any of it against her, just like I don't hold any of it against Bucky, or Natasha, or Clint, or anyone."

"Good." She leaned into his side. "Now, let's go get some cuddle therapy."

"Cuddles?" Steve asked interestedly.

She smacked his shoulder lightly. "With the Barton kids, dork. Our cuddles will keep till later."

He sighed. "Fine, fine."

But he didn't mind in the least when Laura, with a conspiring wink, gave Nate to Diana to put to sleep. Nate fell asleep all right, and so did Diana two minutes later.

"Picture, picture," Clint whispered, pointing at the duo curled up in the armchair, Nate's head resting on Diana's shoulder, his little arm resting on her neck.

Steve snapped a picture, and so did Laura. "Are you going to all fit in Clint's apartment, or do you need another set up?" he asked quietly.

"We'll fit," Laura assured him. "After a scare like this one, we like to keep everybody close."

Steve nodded. "I understand."

Diana woke up when Nate did, and sheepishly admitted that yes, she needed to just take the rest of the day off and sleep. " _Now_ we can cuddle," she said to Steve, as he walked with her to their apartment.

He smiled and kissed her cheek.


	28. Chapter 28

**A/N: Follow-up chapter and a lot of light hearted fluff! Puppies! :) A sort of filler before the next big chapter...**

Clint's family stayed for three more days, and then Clint went home for a month to finish his recuperation at his farm.

"See you in a month," Diana said, kissing his cheek and giving him a hug.

"Feel free to come down," Clint offered.

Diana shook her head. "I actually have to schedule in my vacations now. Maybe next time."

Clint nodded in understanding. "Could you do me a favor?"

"Anything."

"Tell Wanda that I don't blame her."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Tell her yourself."

Clint sighed. "I can't. She won't get near me. She literally ran away from me yesterday. I don't want her to blame herself, poor kid, but I can't tell her anything. Will you take care of her?"

"Yeah." Diana hugged him again. "I'll keep you updated, okay?"

"Okay." He kissed her head. "See you around, soulmate."

Diana watched the Bartons drive away, and turned back to Steve and Natasha. "From a non-soulmate-y point of view, how is Wanda?" Diana asked bluntly.

"Withdrawn," Natasha replied, after a moment. "Scared to use her powers, even more now than before."

Steve nodded. "I'm grounding her until she works through it. I don't want her to hesitate and make a mistake that won't be fixable."

"Which will, of course, give her even more doubts about her powers and her position on the team," Natasha said wryly.

"I'm not sending her out in the field," Steve declared.

"And you're absolutely right," Natasha agreed, patting his arm lightly. "She's just going to have to get over it."

"But how do we help her?" Diana asked.

"By being there for her," Steve said. "encouraging her to use her powers."

"The only thing we have to fear is fear itself," Diana quoted, and added, "And the unknown. And shadows. And creepy statues. And alien invasions. And clowns. And strange hotels. And monsters under the bed. And-" She frowned when Steve and Natasha started laughing. "What?"

"Were you marathoning _Doctor Who_ again?" Natasha asked knowingly.

Diana blushed. "What? It's Cooper's favorite show right now. I had to show him all the good ones."

Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and kissed her lightly. "Don't worry babe, we can leave a light on tonight."

Diana smirked. "We leave that light on anyways, remember?"

Natasha rolled her eyes.

"Anyways," Diana said, "be there for her." She kissed Steve on the cheek and headed inside.

The thing was, Wanda was hiding from everybody. She didn't want to use her powers at all, and she only used the training room when everyone was asleep. So, Diana used her own superpowers and curled up with a five-hundred-page book in the training room to wait for her.

It was one thirty in the morning when Wanda came into the training room and started to beat up a punching bag.

"You're not following through," Diana said quietly, from behind her.

Wanda let out a shriek and turned to face her. "Diana! You startled me."

"Sorry," Diana said gently. "But look at that, you didn't lose out and hurt me."

"But I could have."

"But you didn't." Diana reached for Wanda's hands. "I believe in you, Wanda. We all do. No one blames you for losing control of your powers. You know that right?"

Wanda shook her head.

"It's true," Diana said gently. "I would never lie to you. You know that at least, right?"

Wanda gave a tentative nod.

"Good."

"But I am still off the team," Wanda said sadly.

"Only until you gain your confidence back," Diana said, wrapping her in a hug. "It'll all be okay." She waited until Wanda had calmed down some, and then said quietly, "Clint asked me to tell you that he doesn't blame you."

Wanda stiffened again, but Diana didn't let go of her.

"He doesn't blame you," Diana repeated firmly. "And you know he won't lie to you either."

Wanda relaxed again, and finally, started to cry.

Diana hugged her tightly, and led her to the nearest bench. They sat and talked, and Wanda told her how it felt to be using your powers yet have no control over them. "You should talk to Bucky," Diana suggested, squeezing Wanda's hand. "He knows what it's like to have that happen. And talk to Clint."

"I couldn't."

"Call him," Diana encouraged.

It took Wanda three weeks and ten talks with Bucky and Vision, respectively, before she finally called Clint.

"Hello?" It was Cooper.

"Hi Cooper," Wanda said, "it's Wanda. Is your dad there?"

"Yeah, sure." There was a pause and then a yelled, " _Dad it's the twiiiinns on the phone!_ " Another pause and then, "He'll be here in a second. Nate ate a piece of rubber and he's throwin' up everywhere and mom's with Lila at the store."

"Oh," Wanda said awkwardly, "I can call back later, it's okay-"

"No, no, don't go," Clint's voice interrupted, and a muffled, " _Go look after your brother, Coop_ ," before he came back on the line. "Wanda?"

"Yeah. Hi."

Clint's grin was obvious. "Hey. You okay?"

"I'm fine. Vision helped heal me, I, I should be asking you that, how are you? Are you okay?"

"I'm good as new," Clint replied. "Although, a bit tired still. Our dog just had puppies, so it's been all crazy around here."

"Puppies?" Wanda asked wistfully.

"Yeah, little golden retriever balls of fluff. There's like a ton of them, and our barn cats just had kittens, too. Little stinkers. Did Diana give you my message?"

"Yes, she did."

"Good. And I hope you know that it's true. I don't blame you for anything that happened, and I don't want you beating yourself up about it. Nobody's got time or energy for that, okay? Leave the beating up to the bad guys."

Wanda smiled. "Okay."

"Good. I'll be back in a week, so don't let Scott get too comfy in my seat at the dinner table, okay, and-" A muffled clang. "Nate, no! Don't eat that! Oh for- gotta go Wanda, give a hug to the girls for me, Nate no! Spit it out!" He hung up.

Wanda put down the cell phone and laughed.

True to his word, Clint was back in a week. And, he brought with him a very suspicious box with holes in the top. "Hello, everyone," he said, shuffling into the common room with the giant box.

"Clint?" Diana asked, eyeing him strangely. "What's in the box?"

"Presents," Clint replied, grinning.

Since it was breakfast and nobody had _near_ enough caffeine to face the day yet, they all stared at him skeptically.

"No seriously," Clint said, "don't everybody jump up at once. Actually, they're more like, group presents. And there's only 4 of them, so you can pick. And-"

"Clint! What's in the box?"

Clint reached in and pulled out an adorable fluffy yellow ball of fur. "Puppies."

"Oh my goodness!" Diana shrieked, dropping her fork and reaching out for the fur ball. "Oh my goodness he's soo cute!" She picked him up and cuddled him to her chest, letting the puppy lick her face. "Hi, baby, _hi_ , you're so adorable, yes you are..." She kissed the puppy's little head and looked up at Clint. "Roxy finally had her puppies?"

"Yep, these are them." Clint pulled out another one. "Any takers?"

"Seriously, man?" Sam asked.

"What? You should know that having a pet helps a person with a stressful lifestyle calm down. And who has more stress than superheroes?" Clint turned to Wanda and presented her with an armful of fluff. "And this one's yours. You can name him."

"Mine?" Wanda asked hesitantly, petting the golden fur.

"Yeah. If you want it."

She grinned. "Thank you."

"I claim this one," Diana said, holding up her puppy. She looked at Steve. "We can have a puppy, right? You're not allergic?"

Steve groaned. "Two sets of puppy-eyes just might kill me, doll."

"But look at him! He's so _cute_." She lifted him up to Steve's face. "And we can afford him, you know."

Steve smiled at the puppy and pet a tiny ear. "Well... I've always wanted a dog."

Diana leaned over to kiss him on the cheek. "Yay." She looked at Clint. "Thank you."

Clint grinned.

"Hold on, hold on, we're really doing this?" Pietro asked, eyeing the puppy in Wanda's arms with distaste. "We're superheroes. Who's going to take care of these things while we're out?"

"That's what SHIELD lackeys are for," Natasha said, picking up the third butterball with fondness. "So cute." She plopped him in Bucky's arms and he stiffened. "This one's yours," she informed him.

"What? No. No way." Bucky dumped him on the ground. "I'm not getting a dog."

"All right, fine. This one's the team dog." She ruffled the pup's head.

"I think I will name mine Ivan," Wanda said thoughtfully.

"No, no, don't _name_ it," Pietro said despairingly.

"Is that all of them?" Vision asked, inching away from the dogs politely.

"Well, there's one," Clint said, reaching into the box again. He pulled out a sleek black kitten. "We've already got five kittens, and this one is the sixth."

Vision reached out for the kitten. "This one's cute."

The kitten purred happily in Vision's hands and arched its back.

"You should keep it," Diana suggested, reaching over to let the kitten sniff her hand. "Cats are low-maintenance and if she scratches you wouldn't get hurt. This one's a sweet kitty though."

"What is it about small animals that turns people into gooey puddles of baby talk?" Pietro asked, as the three women and most of the guys played with the puppies and kitten.

"It's the cuteness factor," Clint said matter-of-factly as he unpacked the starter kit of food and collars. "It's the same way people respond to babies. And don't tell me some light-hearted floof wouldn't be nice around here? Besides, your sister's already half in love with the little guy."

"Well, I suppose, for Wanda," Pietro said grudgingly.

"Good man." Clint clapped him on the shoulder.

After some discussion, the pets were named. "How about Abe?" Steve said, letting the puppy sprawl on his chest. "You like that, bud?"

Diana laughed. "It's a girl, Steve."

"Oh." He grinned sheepishly. "I just thought..."

"Abraham?" Diana asked knowingly.

"Yeah."

"Well, what about Abby?" Diana suggested.

"Short for what?" Sam asked. "Abrahamina? That's a cruel thing to name your poor child."

"No!" Diana said indignantly. "Abby short for Abigail."

"Sounds good," Steve said. He looked over at Bucky, who had a lapful of Golden Retriever and did not look happy. "What about you Buck?"

"It's not mine," Bucky said insistently. "It won't get off my lap."

"He wants to be yours," Diana said persuasively, "Look at that little face. Could you deny that little face?"

"Yes," Bucky said flatly. "Get off, stupid."

The puppy rolled over on its back and waved its paws.

"Awww," Natasha said, coming over to pick him up. "Is the big ole dope being mean to the poor little puppy?" She looked down at an annoyed Bucky. "You're not going to hurt him, Barnes. You should trust yourself more. And don't call him stupid."

"Fine then," Barnes said. "You name him."

Natasha eyed the puppy in her arms thoughtfully, and smiled. "Sarge," she decided. "Your name will be Sarge."

"Good name," Steve said, and everyone else agreed.

"What about you, Vision?" Rhodey asked, looking at the android playing with the tiny kitten.

"I think I will name her Spot," Vision replied.

Everyone shared a glance, silently wondering if he'd gotten his wires crossed somewhere, and then they all stared at Diana when she burst out laughing. "Spot!" she said, getting up to give Vision a hug. "That's a great name."

Vision smiled smugly. "I knew you'd get it."

"Get what?" Clint asked, bewildered.

"Just a reference," Diana said smugly.

"Okay..."

The puppies (and kitten) were a huge success, and completely changed life during off-duty hours. Bucky, Steve, Sam, and Natasha trained the puppies in three languages: English for common commands like sit, shake, play dead. German for differentiating friend from foe. And two commands in Russian. One for 'sic 'em', and the other for 'protect Diana.' The commands in German and Russian were shared only with Avengers, Maria, and Pepper.

Surprisingly, these commands all worked for Spot, as well. She learned to shake hands, give kisses with a little bump of her nose, and play dead. When a suspicious person was encountered, her fur would start to bristle and her tail would poof up. And if the 'sic 'em' command was given, she'd go straight for the eyeballs with her little kitten claws.

The cutest thing that happened, though, was around the second month post-pet. It was a Friday, and the team was all there, even Tony and Peter, and they were all outside the Avengers facility, having beers and hanging out.

"Where's the dogs?" Diana asked, leaning against Steve's shoulder.

Steve whistled loudly, once, and all three dogs came running, little tails wagging and tongues flapping. "Hey, there's Abby," Steve cooed, reaching out to bring Abby closer.

"Where's Spot?" Tony asked cautiously. For some reason, the cat hated Tony, and delighted in sneaking up to him and pouncing.

"Spot," Vision called.

There was a 'woof' from Sarge, who came trotting over proudly, and everybody froze. Spot was sitting on Sarge's back, little claws dug into the top layer of fur, not the skin, and looking perfectly at ease.

"Mrow?" Spot inquired, jumping off of Sarge's back and slinking over to Vision.

"Did somebody get a picture of that?" Diana asked, stunned. "That was awesome."

Peter held up his phone. "I got it! That was so cool!"

"Send it to me," Diana requested, but before she could get her phone out of her pocket, she was bowled over by an enthusiastic puppy. "Hey, baby girl, you want to play?" She stroked the puppy's ears fondly. "Pretty soon you're going to be too big to be climbing all over people."

"Have you _seen_ these guys?" Scott asked, pointing to the extremely muscular complement.

Diana nodded. "Good point."

The pets were lifesavers during missions. They kept Diana company, and kept her distracted from worrying about her soulmates while they saved the world. She would take Abby with her to work if she had to go in to the city, and half the time Spot would hide in Diana's bag and jump into a bookshelf in her office in the tower. She really liked the bird's eye view from the tower. Really liked the whole tower, except Tony. Spot loved Pepper, but did not like Tony. It was very strange.

Abby, of course, loved Diana and Steve best, but her third favorite was Clint. Sarge's all-time favorite was Bucky, and even though he pretended to dislike him, Sarge and Bucky could be found sprawled side-by-side throughout the facility just hanging out. Sarge loved Natasha second, almost as much as Bucky, and didn't like anybody but Diana or Bucky sitting next to Tasha. He tolerated Clint, but that was only because of treats. And Ivan _loved_ Pietro. Pietro, frankly, did not love Ivan. The speedster hated the puppy, but the more he ran away from him, the more determined Ivan was to find Pietro. Pietro might have been fast, but Ivan was a _good_ hunter. The puppy would patiently, so patiently, track the speedster by the smell of his sneakers, and when he found the blond twin, he would sit and wag his tail joyfully, waiting for cuddles. Pietro, annoyed, would pet him and get it over with, or dump him into Wanda's care. "It's your dog, you take care of it. Ivan the Terrible, that's his name, isn't it, slobber face? You're a terror! You _ate_ my Nike shoe!"

And it was Abby, the only girl pup, who was the leader of the pack. Vision was actually developing a thesis on the development of leadership and team roles within a pack structure based on the pets' behavior, and realized halfway through that the dogs and kitten were mirroring the Avengers. Abby was the leader, Sarge was the right hand enforcer, Ivan was the distraction, and Spot was the sneak attack.

"Diana, I think our pets might be aliens."

Diana choked on her raspberry Danish. "What?" she coughed, and gulped down her coffee, trying to dislodge the jam from her windpipe. "What did you say, Vision?"

"I believe our pets might be either aliens or self-conscious sentient beings."

Diana stared, open-mouthed, at her android soulmate. "Why...?" Her sentence trailed off. "What led you to that conclusion?"

He handed her the thesis he'd prepared. Vision knew that Diana dealt better with the written word, and he waited patiently till she read it. He knew she'd finished her comprehensive analysis when she took a long sip of her coffee. "Well?" he asked.

Diana took a larger sip of her coffee. "Well," she said slowly, "I understand how you came to that conclusion, but, it's literally just a coincidence, Vision."

"Are you sure? Maybe I should have Dr. Cho run some tests."

Diana pressed her lips together tightly, trying not to laugh. "Has Clint been showing you B-rated sci-fi movies again?"

"Yes."

Diana nodded. "Uh-huh. I thought so." She gestured to the chair. "Did you know that dogs match their owners' personality traits? It's nature and nurture. Golden retrievers are friendly - Avengers are mostly friendly. Abby spends most of her time with Steve and I, we're leaders. Ergo, she's the Alpha. And so on and so forth. They're just copying us, because they live with us. They're not aliens, and they're not a strange mutant super-dog breed." She frowned. "Although, if you want to go ahead and check for that, that would be good. You never know nowadays."

Vision nodded. "All right. I'll look into it."

"Good." She grinned. "But publish that paper, Vision. It's really interesting."

"I will."

Having puppies that were full of energy was also good training for all the agents, trying to keep up with the energetic floofs when it was their turn to walk the dogs. It became an entire rookie training segment titled "K-9 Survival Unit". Anybody who survived without being clawed by Spot was given a gold star.


	29. Chapter 29

**A/N: Bodyswap chapter! Half fluff, half crackfic! I instituted POV changes, so hopefully the A doesn't disappear because those are important and make everything less confusing :) Enjoy!**

Six months' post-pet, the dogs and cat were firmly integrated into the Avengers lifestyle. And at six in the morning, they could all be found in one spot - Diana's and Steve's bed. By six in the morning, Steve was already gone on his morning run and Abby, Sarge, Ivan, and Spot were curled into his side of the bed, snuggled into Diana for warmth. It was muchly appreciated by the Head of Accountability.

That particular six o'clock in the morning, everyone was facing the day in their particular ways. Which is why it was a very great surprise to Diana that one second she was peacefully asleep, face buried in a pillow, and the next second she's emptying .22's into a head-shaped target. She promptly yelped, dropped the gun, and looked around in shock. "How did I get, what time is it? FRIDAY?"

"Yes Agent Romanoff?"

"No, it's Diana. What-" Diana stopped. "That's not my voice. Why is that not my voice, that's Tasha's voice-" She put her hands on her hips. "These are not my hips either. Oh my goodness." She forced her breathing to slow. "FRIDAY?"

"Yes Agent?"

"Call Tony."

"Calling Director Stark."

A

The phone was ringing. Clint reached out and fumbled for the phone. "Laura, honey, where's the phone?" he mumbled.

"It's Agent Romanoff, sir," FRIDAY's voice replied.

"Answer," Clint muttered, eyes still closed.

"Tony!" It was a very freaked-out Natasha. "Tony! What did you do?"

"Tasha?" Clint asked, bolting upright. "What's wrong?"

"It's not Tasha, it's me! Diana!"

Clint rubbed at his face, trying to wake up. "What?" He found a very distinctive pattern of facial hair instead of single-day scruff. "What."

"I don't know! We switched bodies! What did you do!"

"No!" Clint looked in the reflection of the nearest glass wall. Tony Stark stared back at him. "Diana, it's Clint!"

"Clint? What are you doing?"

"I don't know!" he practically yelled back. "Where's Stark!" He paled. "Wait. If I'm in Stark's body, who's at the farm?"

A

"Daddy daddy daddy there's a SPIDERRRR in the TOILET!"

Tony groaned. He'd just come off a three-day-straight science bender and he was not happy. "Barton, shut your mini-me's up, it's too early for this."

"Shut them up yourself, mister," a grumpy, definitely-not-Pepper's voice replied.

Tony's eyes flew open. That was not his penthouse ceiling. He practically jumped out of the bed and stared at the pajama-clad Mrs. Barton. "Uh... what?"

"What?" Laura sat up and blinked at him. "You okay, sweetie?"

"No no, this isn't happening, where's Clint?" Tony whirled and tripped over a hiking boot. "What the-" He burst into the bathroom. Blue eyes and no beard stared at him from the mirror, as well as a large black spider. "I'm Clint!" he gasped, horrified. "This is not good! I'm the middle of nowhere!" He killed the spider, shooed the mini-Bartons out of his way, and grabbed the phone.

A

One second Rhodey is enjoying a nice flight through the pre-dawn clouds, and the next he's half an inch tall and surrounded by ants. "How in the- SCOTT!" He glanced around wildly. "Hey! This is not funny! How do you-" He pressed all the buttons on the wrist band he could find, and with a whoosh, he was big again, sticking out of a hole in the park. "Uh..." He waved at a passing homeless person. "Nothing to see here, man."

A

One second Scott is enjoying a nice conference with some sugar ants, and the next he's a hundred feet in the air, surrounded by a holographic interface. "Oh my goodness oh my goodness I'm flying," he said, waving his arms in a panic and causing the suit to drop like a stone.

"Dude!" a shocked Falcon said, from his left. "What are you doing? Actually, what am I doing?"

"Sam?" Scott asked, confused. "What's going on?"

"What do you mean Sam? I'm Pietro! How did you get me in the air without me noticing?"

"What?" He managed to stabilize his flight and stared at the Falcon. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea."

A

On the Avengers facility track, Sam missed the curve at Mach 5 and ran straight into a tree, smashing through it with a spectacular splintering sound. "WHOA!" He stopped abruptly, tripped over his own feet, and stared at the sky. "Huh. I do not remember crash landing." He rubbed at his face and felt the hair on his head. "Uh... I have hair now?" He noticed the color of a muscular bicep. "Dude. I'm white." He stood up, panicking. "Guys!" He turned towards the facility, accidentally kicked into Quicksilver gear, and overshot the facility by twenty miles. "Seriously?!"

A

Bucky didn't particularly like flying. Especially not when he changed locations mid-bench press and was suddenly flying through the air in between two giant sky scrapers. On instinct he tucked and rolled, landing with a smooth tumble on the nearest ledge. He jumped to his feet in offense mode, wondering what was going on. But the comforting feel of his metal arm was gone and- he was short. And skinny. And- he turned to look at himself in the reflective building surface. "Spidey?" he asked, in a fifteen-year-old's high octave. "This is not cool."

A

Peter found that almost being crushed by four hundred pounds of bench press was not cool, either. By the time he figured out how to control the metal arm via neural processors, his arms were shaking with the effort, and he rolled off the bench with a groan. "What the-"

"Bucky!" A frantic-looking Natasha burst into the room and knelt by him. "Bucky! You okay?"

"I'm not Bucky, I'm Peter," he said shakily. "What's going on?"

She groaned. "Peter? Okay. I'm Diana. Hi, long time no see, how's the homework?" She patted his metal arm and helped him up. "C'mon, we've got to find Steve. Something weird's going on."

"Diana?" Peter frowned. But then again, the redheaded assassin was not the type to casually pat people on the arm. "Wait, I have a metal arm now? So cool!"

A

Steve was running, not really paying attention, and then he turned the page of War and Peace. He frowned down at the book, wondering where his last two miles and his morning shower had gone. "Uh..." He put the book down. "Diana?" He stood up, and his cape rustled against his legs. Wait... He looked down at himself. Red and purple skin. He slapped a hand on his face, and felt a tiny gem in the middle of his forehead. "I'm Vision?" he asked, shocked. "FRIDAY, locate Diana."

"Mrs. Rogers is in bed, asleep," FRIDAY reported.

Steve ran for the apartment, accidentally ghosting through half the walls on the way there and scaring the daylights out of half a dozen agents, and opened the door to their bedroom. "Diana!"

She lifted her head and glared at him blearily. "Vision, what are you doing in here?"

"Diana, it's me, Steve."

"Steve?" She squinted at him. "Why are you in my room? What-" She suddenly clasped a hand to her chest, feeling the fabric of the oversized T-shirt and not a silk pajama top. "These are not my pajamas. What-" She looked at the four puppies snoozing on the bed and looked up at Steve. "Steve, it's Natasha."

He believed her. Diana's face could never look that deadly serious. "Okay. What's going on?"

"That's what I'd like to know," Natasha's voice declared, as she and Bucky burst into the room. "Natasha?"

"Diana?" Tasha asked slowly.

"Yeah. Oh thank goodness."

"Bucky, what?" Steve started.

"Not Bucky," the metal-armed man corrected. "I'm Peter."

"Peter?" Steve rubbed at his forehead. "Okay, FRIDAY, recall everyone to the conference room ASAP."

Diana, in Tasha's body, frowned at Steve closely. "Steve?" she asked cautiously.

"Yes."

She shook her head. "That's so weird."

"Tell me about it," Steve said, "I'm purple."

A

Steve, Diana, Natasha, Peter, Scott, Rhodey, Sam, Pietro, and Vision all got to the conference room at the same time, and for a moment everybody just stared at each other. "Wow," Sam said, finally. "This is really weird."

Diana huffed. "Can someone call Bucky, please?"

"I've got it," Peter said, and then paused. "No I don't, because Bucky's got my phone in my pocket which is now his pocket and I'm currently wearing sweats. Never mind."

Rhodey called Peter's cell and put it on speaker phone. "Uh, Peter?"

"Scott! No, this is Bucky," came over the speaker. "What's going on?"

"Actually this is Rhodey, and we have no idea. Come back to the facility, ASAP."

A sigh. "On my way. Is Peter there?"

"Yep."

"Good." He hung up.

FRIDAY spoke up. "Agent Barton is calling."

"Put him on, FRIDAY," Steve ordered.

Suddenly the door opened and Stark walked through the door. "Stark!" Pietro yelled. "What did you do?"

"Not Tony," Clint replied. "It's Clint."

"You!" Clint's voice aka Tony yelled over the speaker. "Body snatcher!"

"It wasn't me," Clint protested. "Wait, are you on my farm?"

"Yes! There are chickens in your house, Barton!"

"Get out of my house!" Clint screeched.

"I'm working on it!" Tony yelled back.

"Calm down!" Vision thundered, in Steve's impressive 'Cap' voice.

"Thank you," Steve said, giving him a nod. "Tony, get up here now. Clint, sit down and have a coffee."

"Have two," Tony said over the phone, "if I don't get two cups of caffeine within the first hour of awareness I get the shakes, plus I haven't slept for three days."

"Addict," Clint muttered, pouring himself a large cup of coffee, black.

Tony hung up and the conference room went quiet again.

"So," Peter said, "is that everybody?"

"Wanda!" Pietro yelled, and bolted for the door, Diana on his heels.

They entered Wanda's room and Diana went to shake her shoulder gently. "Wanda?"

"Mmghff?" Wanda mumbled.

"Wanda, wake up."

She blinked a few times, and let out a squeak. "Whoa! Why's the Black Widow in my bedroom!? Are you going to kill me? I have a taser!"

Diana sighed. "It's a long story. Weird question, but are you Wanda?"

"No... I'm Darcy. I thought I'd made more of an impression, dang. I-" She stopped abruptly. "This isn't my room."

"Nope."

"This isn't my body either."

"Nope."

Darcy grinned. "Cool."

Diana sighed. "So if you're Darcy, then Wanda must be in the city in your body, and Jane..."

Darcy's eyes widened. "Jane was awake last I checked."

FRIDAY spoke up. "Ms. Foster and Agent Hill are on their way to the facility now, Mrs. Rogers. It appears they have also switched bodies."

"Okay. That's everybody right?"

"We hope," Pietro muttered.

Darcy blushed. "Uh, can you leave? I'm in pajamas, here."

Pietro coughed. "Ahem. Yeah. I'll be, outside."

A

It took another hour, but everyone was assembled in the common area, fully dressed, caffeinated, and fed. Diana handed out name tags ten minutes into conversation so things wouldn't be ridiculously confusing, and now they were just mildly confusing.

They also had no clue about how this body swap had happened. "I can't explain it," Tony said. "None of our R&D departments were working on body swapping, or consciousness swapping, or mind remapping, or anything even vaguely related to this. And none of our enemies have this level of technology either."

"All right," Steve said, "but can we reverse it?"

"No," Peter replied, "not unless we know how we got this way in the first place, or we could risk irreversible brain damage."

"Could the mind stone…"

"Not without Vision actually controlling it," Tony said.

FRIDAY spoke up. "Director Stark, Ms. Potts is calling."

Clint and Tony shared a glance. "Answer!" Tony said, at the same time Clint said, "Don't answer!"

"C'mon guys," Steve sighed. "She needs to know what's going on."

Clint groaned. "Fine, but, no saying weird stuff with my mouth, Stark."

"Answer," Tony said, ignoring him.

A holo screen popped up with Pepper's face. "Uh, Clint?" she asked uncertainly. "Where's Tony?"

"No, it's me, Pep," Tony said, sighing. "There's been an, incident."

"No, I can see you over there," Pepper said, pointing over his shoulder to where Clint was sitting.

Clint gave a half wave. "Hey, Ms. Potts. I'm actually Clint right now."

Pepper frowned. "Where's Diana? Or Steve? Any grownups around?"

Everyone burst into cackles of laughter.

"Uh, what?" Tony said, offended. "I am a total grown up!"

Diana moved into the transmission field. "Hi Pepper, it's me."

"Natasha," Pepper said, relieved. "What's going on?"

"No, it's Diana." She held up a hand. "I promise on the sisterhood of superhero keepers, not a prank. Everyone is literally body swapped right now." She panned the camera. "See our name tags?"

Pepper looked resigned. "So I guess I'll tell the board not to expect Mr. Stark at the quarterly review, then?"

"Not unless we can feed Clint the stats for the last three months," Diana said thoughtfully.

"Won't happen," Natasha chimed in. "We tried in Prague five years ago, not possible."

"I am not a business man," Clint grumbled. "No board meetings."

"Fine," Pepper said. She looked at Tony. "Please fix this."

"Don't worry, Pep," Tony promised, "we've got it under control." He blew her a kiss, which was weird on Clint's features, and closed the call. He turned to Diana. "We got this, right?"

Peter cleared his throat. "Also, I have a presentation to give at two."

Bucky swiveled to glare at him with fifteen-year-old furor. "What kind of presentation, Spidey?"

"Uh, bio-engineering applications of synthetic leaves in space."

Bucky's scowl darkened.

"It's part of my final grade," Peter said, giving Bucky his own puppy dog eyes which were highly effective. "Please do this?"

Bucky did a truly impressive eye roll. "Go find a set of comms, and print out your notes or whatever it is."

"Yes! Thank you so much!" Peter ran off to find them, and almost dented the door handle with his metal arm. "Ahem. That's got quite a grip..." He left.

Steve rolled his eyes. "All right, everyone dismissed. Let's try and keep this as under the radar as possible, so stick around the complex. I don't want anyone training without your swap-mate to spot you or you're liable to break something. Tony, Vision, go fix this."

"On it," Tony said, leading the currently-blonde Vision out.

The six women looked at each other. "Well," Diana said, "we can all do paperwork reasonably well while body swapped. Who wants to put on a chick flick and get through the filing backlog? Or at the very least, manicures?"

Darcy half-raised a hand. "Can I use Wanda's powers to manipulate snacks?"

"Yes."

"Awesome."

A

"Okay," Peter said, handing Bucky the notes and a comm, "you have to stop by my house to get the USB with the presentation on it, because the server at the college acts up sometimes, so, stop by my house, do you have the key, and grab that, and my backpack just to look authentic, and head for the college. Also, a sandwich from the fridge because I'm a teenager so I get hungry a lot."

Bucky nodded. "I'll comm you when I get to campus."

"Cool."

Bucky pointed at him. "Do not break my arm."

"Got it. Don't break my web shooters."

"Got it." Bucky headed for the door. "Wait. How do I get to the city?"

"The shuttle?" Peter suggested. "That's how I got here."

"I'll take my bike."

"I don't have a license!" Peter protested. "You'll get pulled over and I'll get stuck with the ticket."

Bucky growled but headed for the shuttle. "You owe me, Parker," he called back.

Bucky survived the shuttle ride to the city, and got to Peter's house in reasonable time. He opened the door with the key, went inside, and-

"Peter Parker where have you been?"

Bucky stared at Peter's Aunt Mae. "Uh..."

"You promised you were going to be here to let in the carpet cleaners, and then I get a call that the house is empty! Were you saving the world or did you forget? And don't lie to me. I can tell when you're lying."

"Uh, I forgot," Bucky said lamely. He held up the notes. "I have a thing, at two, class..."

Aunt Mae narrowed her eyes at him. "Next time I ask you to do something, Peter, you'd better remember, or I'll leave all the house chores up to you, mister superhero."

Bucky cleared his throat. "Yes ma'am."

"Good. Now go on or you'll be late."

Bucky grabbed the USB and high-tailed it out of there. "I just got yelled at by your aunt," he griped, once he reached the college campus.

"The carpet cleaners!" Peter yelped, nearly blowing out Bucky's eardrum. "I totally forgot!"

"Yeah, well, that's another one you owe me."

"Right. uh, Science building, to your left, and room 241. You're third on the list, so just read the notes."

Bucky looked at the notes. They still looked incomprehensible. "If you get an F don't blame me," he muttered.

Peter sighed.

A

The "fill out paperwork" club had turned into the "wine and manicure" club by the time Steve dropped in to check on them. "What happened to ending the backlog?" Steve asked, not judging, only curious.

Darcy waved a hand lazily. "Nobody can sign anything unless we're in our right minds." She snickered. "Get it? Cuz we're not in our right bodies?"

Jane rolled her eyes. "You've only had one glass of wine, Darce, calm down."

"It's the chocolate!" Darcy protested. "Wanda's body is really susceptible to sugar. I'm going to have an epic sugar crash later..."

"True," Wanda agreed, concentrating on finishing her wicked red manicure.

Diana smirked. "While I, in the meantime, can drink half a bottle of vodka and be fine, right Tasha?"

Tasha sipped at her single glass of wine. "Yep."

"We should've switched with each other," Maria mused, nodding to her fellow super-spy. "We have excellent sugar and alcohol tolerances."

"Excuse you, I drank Asgardian mead and survived," Jane said indignantly.

Diana patted her on the arm. "Have some more chocolate, and don't smudge your nails."

Steve smiled fondly. "Well, you ladies have fun." As he walked away he grabbed Pietro's arm to keep him from going into the living room. "Nope. Living room's off-limits."

"Why?" Pietro asked, confused.

Steve held a finger to his lips.

"You know," Darcy's voice floated out from the open door, "all the guys in this place are really hot, no matter who's body they're in."

"Steve's taken," Diana protested. "Hands and eyes off my man."

"But Steve in Steve's body, or Steve in Vision's body?" Wanda asked lazily. "And what about Vision in Steve's body?"

"Good question," Diana said slowly. "The metaphysical ramifications of this incident are staggering...and what will it mean for mental versus physical rights?"

"And what'll happen if we can't find a way to reverse this?" Jane continued. "How are any of us going to go out in public ever again?"

"Will Laura mind having Clint in Tony's body?" Darcy asked.

"Those poor children will need some serious therapy by the time they're grown," Maria agreed sadly.

"Somebody give me a pen," Diana demanded. "I need to start drafting the incident report before we're all sued for harassment and weird stuff in public if the boys ever get off the grounds."

There were some shuffling sounds. "Aw shoot, I smudged my pinkie," Darcy muttered.

"That's why," Steve said, dragging the speedster away.

A

Vision was starving. He'd eaten three sandwiches and was working on a fourth and fifth. "I don't understand how you survive with this metabolism," he complained to Steve. "I've been eating non-stop since the swap. How do you deal on missions?"

"A great deal of self-control and judicious use of Stark-ified protein bars," Steve replied, grinning wryly. "You've got about seven more sandwiches to go. I'd suggest putting twice the amount of ham and cheese if you don't want to be hungry again in two hours."

Vision obediently heaped on the ham and cheese.

"Good," Steve said, patting him on the shoulder. "You know, it's nice to not be hungry."

Peter walked in. "Guys, I'm starving. Is there food?"

Steve handed him a plate and waved a hand at the supplies. "Go crazy."

A

By dinner time, everyone was starving, and they'd made very little progress. "Well, we've determined by tracking brain patterns that yes, our minds have literally switched. Muscle memory and innate skills stayed the same though, so in case we have to fight, all the skills should be there. Those of us that do complex calculations might be a bit slower on the uptake, but reflex-wise we're all good." Tony put up a chart. "Dr. Cho wants everyone to document their experience for posterity, so, everybody gets to keep a journal."

Everybody groaned.

"Just voice it and FRIDAY will do it all," Tony advised. "Also, Dr. Cho wants to know if learned skills transferred, so Steve, you have to draw something, Clint, you have to go down to the range, Natasha, you've got to dance, and so on."

Steve flexed his hands thoughtfully. "I don't know about this."

"That's why it's called an experiment," Tony retorted. "C'mon guys, this is literally a once-in-a-lifetime thing. We've got to take advantage of it."

"No, what we need to do is figure out how to turn us back!" Bucky said. "I stopped having to deal with acne eighty years ago and I'd like to return to that."

"Hey!" Peter protested. "What have you been eating that gave my face acne?"

Steve sat up. "All right, save it, guys. Give everybody their skills assignment. I'm going to dig out my drawing pad."

Everyone scattered to do their thing, and Steve settled down in the living room to capture the adorable scene of three puppies and a kitten playing with a rag tied to a soft Frisbee. And Steve found that Vision's hands were not artistically inclined, and it was very hard to get shading when microscopically perfect vibranium skin refused to smudge the paper. "This is ridiculous. The skin is actually perfect. Maybe graphic art on a computer would be better."

A web shot out and snagged the paper in his lap, pulling it away. "Don't ruin it," Bucky scolded, wiping the web off the corner. "They sent me to collect this."

"Oh come on," Steve said, reaching for it, "I'm not done yet!"

"Yeah, you are," Bucky said, running out of the room with his new spidey-speed.

Steve followed him, naturally, using his new Vision-powers and melting through the walls. "Get back here!"

They chased each other through the facility, and Steve finally got Bucky in a headlock. "Give it."

"No."

"Now."

"No way."

"I'm not done yet!"

"Too bad."

There was a 'snick' of a camera shutter. They both froze and looked over. Diana was standing there holding a phone. "That was a once-in-a-lifetime image," she said, waving the Starkphone. "I had to get that picture."

"It's not even Vision and Spidey though," Bucky complained, from his headlock. "And we do this all the time," he added, flipping around and grabbing Steve in a half-Nelson.

"Yeah," Steve grunted, going intangible and making Bucky fall flat to the floor.

"Ow."

"Oh please," Steve said, helping him up. "That didn't even hurt."

"That was my nose!"

"MY NOSE!" Bucky's deep voice hollered from farther down the corridor, taking on a teenager-ish whine.

Diana smiled. "Anyways, guys. I was wondering if anyone wanted pie. Apparently, I can bake really, really well now."

"Pie!" Bucky said, heading towards the kitchen. His voice broke and he flushed to the tips of his ears. "Ignore that," he said, clearing his throat. "Nobody heard anything." He ran away.

Steve smiled at Diana. "Hi."

"Hi." She twisted her hands together awkwardly and gave him a half-smile. "I, uh, this is kind of weird. You're in Vision's body."

"And you're in Natasha's." He reached out to take her hand. "It's definitely passed weird."

There was a flash of lightning and a roll of thunder outside the windows.

"Thunder," Diana said, looking outside. "It was not stormy a second ago." Her eyes lit up. "Thor?"

Steve tapped the nearest wall comm. "Vision, Natasha, Tony, meet us outside, I think Thor's coming back."

The five of them gathered outside and Diana frowned up at the stormy clouds. "Any time now!" she called politely.

A tunnel of light and energy came down from the clouds and left a Norse stamp on the ground. Two figures appeared in the tunnel, and suddenly Lady Sif and Thor stood in front of them.

"Welcome back," Steve said. "Would you happen to know how we all swapped bodies?"

"We do not," Sif replied. "But whatever power was used, it was capable of reaching across realms to transfer minds."

"What do you mean?" Vision asked.

Thor gave a sheepish wave. "I'm not Thor. I'm Bruce. Hi guys."

"Bruce!" Diana said, running forward and wrapping her arms around him in a huge hug.

He hugged her back gently. "Hi."

She stepped back. "So, wait, if you're here, then Thor is in the middle of nowhere?"

"South Korean countryside in a doctor's clinic," Bruce admitted. "We should probably send a quinjet."

"Wait," Tony said, going pale. "Does he have the Hulk?"

Bruce nodded. "But it's okay. Heimdall's been keeping an eye on him and Thor's actually got a good rapport with him right now."

"The Hulk punches Thor in the head for fun," Steve said flatly. "I don't think that's a good thing."

Sif waved a dismissive hand. "Thor can take it."

"He just doesn't like the loud noises," Bruce said, "but now that Thor's me, they should be okay."

"Wait," Diana said, "where's Mjolnir?"

Sif rolled her eyes. "Fandral and Hogun had to cut the ground around it and transport the hammer that way. It should be coming here soon."

A beam of light and energy blasted into the ground a few feet from them, leaving a slightly smoking Mjolnir on the grass.

"Okay, so now it's here, Diana's the only one who can pick it up," Tony said. "Does that make her our resident thunder god until we get Thor back?"

"Yes," Steve said. "Vision, take Pietro and go to Vietnam to pick up Bruce. I mean, Thor."

Sif smiled slightly as Diana picked up the hammer and hooked it in her belt. "Thor has a worthy soulmate," she said. "It is nice to finally meet you, Diana."

"Likewise," Diana said, smiling at her. "Thor's told us a lot about you."

"When this mess is straightened out, you should come to Asgard," Sif offered.

"That would be amazing," Diana said.

Steve raised an eyebrow. "Are you staying, Lady Sif, or..."

"No. I must return to Asgard to figure out how to strengthen its defenses against this sort of invasion." She gave them all a nod. "I will see you all soon." She looked up at the sky. "Heimdall! Open the Bifrost!"

And she was gone.

"Well, that was cool," Natasha said, slinging an arm around Diana's shoulders. "That didn't solve a thing, though."

"Except for my Science Bro being back!" Tony said, grabbing Bruce in a half hug. "This is great!"

"It's great to be back," Bruce said, "albeit in an Asgardian's body. I'm taller though. It's nice."

A

Vision and Pietro found Dr. Bruce Banner's office in Southern Korea with relative ease. Vision knocked on the door, and they entered. It was a cluttered but clean, and an open doorway in the back led to a one-room living area. "Thor?" Pietro called.

Bruce Banner's body walked into the clinic area. "My friends!" he said, grabbing both of them in a hug.

"Yep, definitely Thor," Pietro grunted.

"How did you know it was me?" Thor asked, stepping back.

Vision sighed. "Because I am Vision and that isn't Sam, it's Pietro. We've all been body-swapped."

Thor frowned. "I see. So Bruce has been in Asgard the past two days."

"The Lady Sif brought him back," Vision informed him. "How are you dealing with the presence of the Hulk?"

Thor grinned. "We have an understanding." He tapped his temple. "The Hulk is a mighty warrior, and we respect each other. Also, meditating for half an hour after a meal creates a center of calm for both of us."

"Good," Pietro said, patting him on the back. "Good. You keep meditating. Shall we go home?"

"Yes, lets. There are no Pop-Tarts in this country."

A

"Everyone back together again," Diana said, pleased. "And for once the world isn't ending."

"No, we're just in opposite bodies," Sam said, irritated. "Every time I walk, I end up half a mile away."

"You should have seen the first time Pietro had his powers," Wanda said, giggling. "He would keep crashing into walls and trees for days."

"That's not helpful," Sam informed her.

"At least you're just running," Darcy grumbled. "I have to keep sitting on my hands so I don't accidently swoosh things around." She glanced up at the ceiling, where a blue splat proclaimed the death of a bottle of nail polish.

"Can we focus, here?" Maria asked, holding up a tablet. "We've been back tracking this strange power surge from around the time of the body-swap. It petered out somewhere in Central Europe."

"Is it artifact-y or device-y?" Diana asked. "And yes those are legit science terms." She reached over and punched a snickering Clint in the arm.

"Ow, hey!"

"Artifact-y," Maria replied, straight-faced.

"Speaking of power and energy," Thor said slowly, "can anyone else feel that?"

"Feel what?" Rhodey asked.

"There's a strange... it's as if the air is buzzing."

"Buzzing?" Scott asked.

"Are you sure it's not the Other Guy snoring?" Bruce asked.

"No. Definitely not."

Diana frowned. "It's like, a warm buzz."

"Yes," Thor said.

She nodded slowly. "I think I can feel it." She placed her hand on Mjolnir and her eyes widened. "Yep, definitely feeling it."

Thor held out a hand and Mjolnir flew into his grasp. "It's reading the energy," he said. "It is definitely not from this realm, but, it is coming from us. All of us." He walked outside of the group of chairs, and turned back to them. "Yes. All of us in one place must have amplified the energy reading."

"Well can you tell what kind of energy?" Tony asked eagerly. "Does that thing have a meter?"

Thor shook his head. "All I can tell is that it feels like... Loki."

Clint groaned and threw an arm over his eyes. "I thought he was dead, man, come on."

"He is," Jane said. She turned to Thor. "Isn't he?"

"Loki is dead," Thor confirmed. "He died with honor."

"Could it be some other guy with a bag of tricks and blue magicky energy that's not really magic but highly controlled space-time influence?" Steve asked.

They all turned to stare at him.

"What?" he asked defensively. "I pay attention."

"Go Cap," Peter said, giving him a high-five.

"It could be," Thor said.

"So are we going to Central Europe now?" Darcy asked. "Please say yes."

Diana nodded. "Everybody suit up."

A

 **A/N: Second half coming soon!**


	30. Chapter 30

**A/N: Short chapter just to finish up the body swap adventure. Enjoy! :)**

The trail ended in in the mountains of Austria, and therefore so did the quinjets' journey. Everyone piled out and the ones with superpowers formed a loose circle around the ones without. Diana was fairly confident in her hand-to-hand combat, but the gun in her hip holster made her uneasy. It also freaked her out to see her own body armed to the teeth, Natasha idly spinning a serrated throwing knife.

Tony had a mobile energy tracer and between that and the hammer they had a fair idea of where to go.

They hiked halfway up one of the foothills and found an old stone castle nestled into the side of the mountain.

"It's an actual castle," Peter said, awed.

"I feel like this is the sort of place where vampires live," Scott mused. "Or creepy recluse crazy people."

"Very gothic novel," Diana agreed.

They scouted the area, posted Bucky and Peter as scout and lookout (with their combined powers they'd make a formidable team), and ventured inside. Scans showed that the castle was empty but everyone was on high alert. The high ceilings and rotting tapestries on the walls were extremely disconcerting, and Diana could feel chills going down her spine.

"The readings are getting stronger," Tony said, pointing further down the gloomy hall.

"Oh great," Scott said sarcastically. "Farther into the creepy castle."

They went further down, Steve on point, and came to the great hall of the castle. It was empty save for one large stone chest sitting in the exact center.

"Does this look artifact-y enough for you?" Pietro asked Diana, smirking.

She smirked. "It could use a few booby-traps."

"That's what I'm afraid of," Steve said, scowling. "Tony?"

"On it, Capsicle. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Boxer briefs, thank you very much," Diana said crisply, and Vision's body blushed a deep magenta.

Vision stared at his own body in amazement. "I didn't even know I _could_ blush," he said. "How are you doing that, Steve?"

Natasha snickered. "It's his superpower."

"I think it's adorable," Diana said firmly, ending the conversation.

There were no traps, to everyone's suspicions but ultimately, relief.

"All right, let's figure this puppy out," Tony said, and put his muscles behind the lid. It didn't budge. "Uh, somebody with more muscles?"

Bruce, Vision, and Steve easily lifted the lid and put it to the side, revealing a sophisticated looking console that glowed a bright blue. "Do you recognize this technology, Thor?" Steve asked.

Thor shook his head. "No."

"Get Peter back in here," Tony requested.

They switched out Clint for Peter, and the scientists got to work deciphering the device.

The others spread out, inspecting the tapestry and keeping an eye out for the unexpected.

Diana stayed in the main chamber with the scientists and Steve, and wandered around, counting bricks and looking at the cobwebs in the corners of the ceilings.

"Ah-hah," Tony crowed triumphantly.

Diana went over to him. "What?"

"I think I've got it," he said. "There's a series of markers here that are paired to each other. I think that's us."

She leaned on the opposite end of the artifact, trying to get a better look, as he brought up a pair of markers. "How can you tell who's who?"

And suddenly, the universe swapped, and she was looking at Natasha's face with interest. Her body felt heavier, and- she looked down. Clint's hands, calloused and worn, were on the artifact console. "You've got to be kidding me," she said, and her voice came out in baritone.

"Oh _NO_ ," Natasha's voice said, distressingly high-pitched, "I'm a _GIRL!_ "

Peter burst into laughter.

"Don't touch _anything_ ," Steve snapped, glaring at Tony.

"Bruuuucee," Tony whined, "fix iiiiit..."

Bruce, to his credit, only smiled and moved Diana to the side. "Okay, let's see," he said, pushing a series of buttons on the glowing interface.

"That one," Peter said helpfully, reaching out to poke it.

"No, wait-"

There was a whoosh of air in Diana's ears, and she was suddenly looking up at the ceiling. "Ow," she grumbled, and stopped. Again, not her voice. She looked down at herself. "Sam," she said. "Huh."

Rhodey, Scott, and Wanda were in the room with her. Their bodies at least. Their occupants... "Okay, who's who?" Scott asked, sitting up. "Sam?"

"Diana," she replied. "You are..."

"Natasha."

They both looked at each other and snickered.

Rhodey lifted his head. "I'm a _dude_!" he yelled, horrified.

"Darcy?" Natasha asked.

"Yeah."

They all looked at Wanda. She looked back at them. "You know, I'm really starting to hate this. Pepper's going to kill me."

"All right Tony," Diana said, standing up and helping him to his feet, "let's just figure this out, okay?"

Everyone regrouped in the room with the device, and took stock. Everyone but Bruce and Thor had been swapped. "It seems like the switching was randomized," Peter said, now residing in Jane's body. He had a horrible craving for coffee but that was it.

"So how do we un-randomize it?" Steve asked. He was now in Darcy's body, and looking extremely ill at ease in a short, curvy body.

"Hm." Tony cracked his knuckles and stood at one end of the device. "Somebody stand over here and put your hands on the other end."

Steve stepped up. There was a slight glow, and they both froze.

"Tony?" Diana asked cautiously.

"Yes dear," Darcy's mouth replied.

"Okay, so that works on a one-on-one basis," Steve said.

Clint cleared his throat. "Does that mean we're going to have to play musical bodies until we get to our own bodies? I've played that puzzle game before and I don't like it."

"Me either," Tony said. "Different solution."

The scientists clustered around the device. "The key has got to be the marker pairs," Bruce said. "Look, they've changed now."

"Is there a log, or like some sort of swap history?" Peter asked.

They found it. "So the most recent one is between Steve and Tony," Bruce mused. "So that's them, and everyone else..."

Clint sighed. "We're going to have to play it aren't we?"

"Just till we figure out who's who," Bruce said apologetically.

"If I throw up it's not my fault," Clint grumbled, moving to one end of the device. "Tasha, c'mere."

A

After a round of switching, where Clint and Bucky got back to their own bodies purely by chance, everyone was nauseous as all get-out and really, really sick of body-swapping.

Steve, now in Pietro's body, rested his head against Diana's shoulder. She was now in Wanda's body, and hugged him lightly. "This is definitely worse than the Cyclone," he grumbled.

She giggled lightly. "I bet."

"I think we've got it," Bruce said. after another ten minutes. He eyed the exhausted Avengers. "If this works, everybody should end up in their own bodies."

"Yay," Scott said, not moving from the floor. He was communing with a couple of daddy-long-leg spiders on the floor. "It must be hard having to deal with all the snow, huh?" he asked the spider.

"Okay, I think someone's losing it," Rhodey decided, subtly moving away from him.

"Ready, children?" Tony asked.

"Ready," half a dozen voices chorused. Everyone else just stared at him wearily.

He sniffed. "Where's your sense of excitement, people?"

"In my _own body_ ," Pietro grumbled.

"Fine, fine. Hold on to your stomachs, people." And he pressed the button.

A

Diana opened her eyes, felt a jolt of nausea, and closed them again. "Nope," she muttered, swallowing hard a couple times. "Nope, nope." _Not gonna throw up._

A gentle, vibranium-skinned hand smoothed over her forehead. The coolness eased the nausea, and she looked up at Vision.

"Just breathe through your nose," he said kindly.

"Am I in my own body?" she asked weakly. "I'm afraid to look."

"Yes," he said, helping her sit up.

She smoothed the bullet-proof jacket over her stomach and hips. "Yep, I'm me again." She stood up shakily and surveyed the others. Everyone else was still passed out, except Vision. He moved to Tony's side, and she moved to Steve's. "Steve." She shook his shoulder gently.

He blinked up at her groggily. "Diana?"

"That's me." She bent down to give him a light kiss. "How do you feel?"

"Ugh."

She helped him sit up, not that he needed help, and ran her fingers through his hair until he looked steadier.

They both stood up to go shake people awake, and Diana took care of most of her soulmates. Darcy popped up by herself, and grinned at everyone. "So that gives a new meaning to 'walk a mile in someone else's shoes, huh?" she asked cheerfully.

Tony snorted.

"Can we get this thing on a jet and go home?" Maria asked wearily. "I don't even know how we're going to file this one."

"Form 103-B-7," Diana replied, slinging an arm around her shoulders.

"There's seriously a form for that?"

"Yep." She grinned. "Between me and Coulson we've come up with every single possible and impossible scenario, including hormone-imbalacing pollen and

dragons."

"Dragons?" Clint asked interestedly.

Natasha rolled her eyes.

Thor cleared his throat. "Ahem."

"What's up, Point Break?"

"I'm still Bruce."

Everyone stopped to look at him in disbelief. "Seriously?" Tony asked. He went over to poke a still-unconscious Thor in the shoulder. "Hey, Thunderpants, wake up."

He glared up at Tony. "I thought you said this would work, Stark," he half-growled, sitting up and rubbing at his temples.

"It should've worked," Tony said, confused. "It worked with everybody else."

"Maybe the Big Guy is confusing the device's readings," Peter said.

Bruce frowned. "Then why did we swap in the first place?"

"Good question."

Sam groaned. "Can we figure this out at the base?"

Steve nodded. "Everybody grab your gear, we're moving out."

A

They hiked back down the mountain, the artifact firmly on Vision's shoulders, and got the artifact into the quinjet. As soon as Clint put the jet on autopilot for home, everyone decided to take a nap. Diana, curled up with her head in Steve's lap and her legs across Bucky's lap, went to sleep within five minutes of Steve starting to gently comb his fingers through her hair. "Love you," she whispered, half-asleep.

Steve smiled down at her. "Love you too, doll."

"You guys are so sweet it makes me sick," Bucky snarked, although the grin on his face belied his words.

"Nah, Buck, that's just the body swapping."

The Winter Soldier made a face at him.

A

They returned to base and most everyone scattered to shower and eat and rejoice that they had all their powers back. Pietro went on a hundred-mile sprint just for the sheer joy of it. That left Tony, Bruce, and Thor in the lab with the device, trying to reverse the body swap.

"I think it's a hard programming block that's keeping us from reversing it," Tony said. He put up the code. It was scrolling by in an alien language. "Unfortunately, I don't speak Zygrovian."

"I haven't heard of that species," Thor said.

Tony smirked. "No, I mean I don't know what language that is, let alone how it was programmed. And if I have to decrypt it and remove the block, we're going to be here a while."

Bruce sighed, resigned. Actually, he thought to himself, it wasn't so bad being in a perfect Asgardian body without the constant rumbling of the Other Guy in his head. "Sorry,' he said aloud to Thor.

Thor gave him a comforting smile. "It is not such a hardship."

Tony waved a hand at them impatiently. "All right all right, get out of my lab. I've work to do. FRIDAY, start the music."

ACDC began to blast out of the speakers in the ceiling and Bruce and Thor hurriedly left the lab.

A

It was twenty hours later when Tony finally surfaced, looking haggard and half-deaf. "Coffee," he demanded, taking the cup out of Diana's hands.

She scowled at him but let him drink it.

Tony took a sip and made a face. "What is this?"

"Tea. Earl Grey. Hot."

Tony took a another sip. "As long as it's got caffeine."

"Why don't you get your own tea?"

"Because if I wait too long it'll rewrite itself," Tony said despairingly.

"What will?" She put her stylus down. "Talk to me, Tony. Full sentences."

He sat at the breakfast counter next to her and heaved a sigh. "The code keeps re-writing itself. Every time I think I'm close to decrypting it or translating it, it changes completely. I don't think I'm going to be able to crack it."

Diana's eyes widened. For Tony to admit defeat... "Okay," she said, "can you replicate teh technology?"

"If I had a year and the Mindstone out of Vision's forehead, yeah. But I don't think he'd appreciate the lobotomy."

Diana grimaced.

"I don't know what to do," Tony said miserably. "He's my Science Bro and I can't fix it."

She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and let him lean on her. "We'll figure something out," she promised, kissing his head. "C'mon, Tony, let's get you to bed. You'll feel better after some sleep."

"But I gotta-"

"No." She tugged him out of the chair and walked him to his room. She waited until he'd changed into pajama pants, and she sat on the bed and kissed his forehead. "Night, night, Tony."

"Night, Di." He closed his eyes and passed out.

She smirked and left, gently closing the door. "FRIDAY, lights."

A

Diana relayed Tony's findings to the rest of the Avengers. Bruce and Thor were disappointed, but neither of them could blame him.

"We shall have to go to Asgard," Thor said finally. "I was holding the option as a last resort, but it seems we have no choice."

Bruce gulped. "Asgard?" he asked faintly.

"Yes. My father will be able to return us to our proper bodies." Thor clapped him on the shoulder. "Take heart, my friend. The warriors of Asgard have always been impressed with the feats of the Hulk."

Bruce did not look comforted, but managed a small smile for the loveable thunder god.

Diana gave him a half-hug. "It'll be fine, Bruce. Besides, you already know Sif."

Thor looked at her appraisingly. "Would you come with us, Diana?" he asked.

Diana's eyes lit up. "I would love to go." She glanced at Steve, who suddenly looked like someone had hit him with a train. "Steve?"

"I-" _don't want you to go where I can't reach you if you need me_. He cleared his throat. "If Thor can promise absolute safety, then I don't see why not."

"You may come as well, of course, Steven," Thor said, giving him a knowing look.

"I-"

"Go, you idiot," Bucky urged.

Steve nodded. "It'd be an honor."

"Excellent," Thor said, beaming. "We will return to Asgard in the morning." He kissed Diana on the cheek. "Good night, all."

"Night Thor," everyone chorused.

Diana and Steve went to bed soon after. "So, Asgard," Diana said, smiling as Steve wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. She settled her back against the firm planes of his chest and tangled her cold feet with his warm ones.

He kissed her ear gently. "Asgard," he echoed. "That'll be one of the history books, huh, doll?"

She smiled and closed her eyes. "Yep."

"I love you."

"Love you, too."

Diana fell asleep, and Steve followed her example a while later.

A

The next morning after breakfast the four-person party was almost ready to go - and then the Assemble alarm went off. "You have got to be kidding me," Steve said. "Hill, what's the situation?"

"A weird cult thing going on in Norway," Maria replied over the comm. "They've got a huge demonstration going on and these weird energy barriers keeping people from an entire town. They're claiming that it's the end of the world. UN wants us to go and deal with it."

"And if it really is the end of the world?" Pietro asked wryly.

"Then we'll deal with that too," Steve said, with a sigh. "Everybody suit up."

"Oh no, Steve," Diana protested.

"You three go," Steve urged. "We'll take care of this."

"We can handle it if you want to go with Diana," Natasha told him.

Steve hesitated, his desire to protect Diana warring with his instinct to go where the trouble was. "All right," he finally said. "Black Widow, you're in command. Falcon, you're second. Stark, we're going to need SHIELD backup if this turns into a political thing."

They all nodded, and rushed off to get suited up.

 **A/N 2: From here, we get into the next big thing which has something to do with Thor, and Bruce, and a certain villain who may or may not be misunderstood...**


	31. Chapter 31

**A/N: Hey, sorry for the wait. Haven't had access to my computer for a couple of days... anyways. On to Asgard!**

Thor ushered his four travel-mates outside, and looked up at the sky. "Heimdall!" he bellowed. "Open the Bifrost!"

There was a whoosh of light, Diana grabbed Steve's hand, and then it was all light and waves of energy tingling over their skin, and a blur of swirling images- and then they were standing in a large golden dome, and the largest man Diana had ever seen was smiling at them.

"Welcome home, my prince," he said, nodding at Thor.

"Thank you Heimdall," Thor answered regally. He gestured to Diana and Steve. "My soulmate, and her husband."

"A pleasure to finally meet both of you," Heimdall said, bowing his head.

"Likewise," Diana replied.

Thor gestured towards the high arching doorway. "This way, my friends. Welcome to Asgard."

They walked out onto a massive crystalline bridge, and in the distance: Asgard. "Whoa," Diana whispered, squeezing Steve's hand tightly as her eyes roved over the climbing spires and the incredible architecture.

"Yeah," he breathed, trying to commit everything to memory. This would make an incredible drawing later.

The walk from the bridge was long, but eventually they made it to the city itself, and everyone in the city stopped to stare at them. "Why are they staring?" Diana whispered to Thor.

He smirked. "It is not very often that out-worlders come to Asgard. They are merely curious."

"Oh." But she was still glad when they entered the Palace. Well, sort of. Just walking in, she felt like a dwarf among giants. Everyone here was so tall and beautiful, and dressed like, well, gods.

Lady Sif met them before they'd taken a dozen steps into the palace. "Thor," she said, and paused before grabbing the tall blond one in a hug. She frowned. "You have not switched back?"

"No," Thor said, and she turned to look at Bruce's body. "The device that swapped all our souls was unable to switch us back. We came so the Allfather could return us to our own selves."

Sif nodded. "I will take you to him." She turned and walked off, and they followed her. "Since you and Doctor Banner were switched, he has spent all his time in the great library."

"Doing what?" Thor asked.

"No one knows." She pushed open a couple of huge doors and ushered them into the largest library Diana had ever seen.

Her jaw hit the floor. "Can I just live here?" she asked weakly.

Thor chuckled. "I believe we can arrange that for a while," he said, giving her a fond smile. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and urged her gently forward. "Come. You can browse later, I promise."

They went further into the library, Steve stopping to stare at a huge paiting that _moved_ , and finally came upon Odin. He closed the book he was reading and gazed upon them gravely. "So," he said. "Your Midgardian friends failed."

Steve bristled at that, but Diana put a calming hand on his bicep.

"The device was of alien origin," Thor replied. "Even my friends have limits."

"There are strange things moving in the realms," Odin said thoughtfully. He picked up his staff and waved it over the two men. There was a glow of light, and both Thor and Bruce stumbled.

Diana steadied Bruce. "You okay?"

He nodded and pressed a hand to his head. "I'm okay. I'm me again."

"Oh good." She kissed his cheek and gave him a huge hug. "Officially, welcome back." She gave him a mock-glare. "Don't go away again for so long."

He gave her a brief smile. "I'll try."

Thor glanced at the door. "With your permission, father?"

Odin waved a hand. "We shall have a banquet," he declared, "in honor of my son's soulmate."

Diana blushed. "You don't have to-"

"Soulmates are a sacred trust," Odin replied, and that was that.

Thor ushered his guests out, and they met Lady Sif in the hall. "Welcome back, Thor," she said, patting him on the back. She looked at Diana. "A tour?"

They spent the rest of the day exploring Asgard. Thor introduced them to his friends Hogun, Volstagg, and Fandral, and they had lunch with the Valkyries, an elite women's fighting force. They were very impressed with the feats of the Black Widow, and promised that if she ever died in battle and came to Valhalla, she would become part of the team.

After lunch, Thor took the three of them to tour the palace. He showed them his favorite spots as a child, the garden of eternally blooming flowers that his mother favored, his own rooms in the palace which was its own small palace, and-

"Is this a coffee machine?" Bruce asked, pointing at a silver and black contraption on the counter.

Thor grinned. "It is."

"You have coffee in Asgard?" Steve asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I became quite fond of the beverage from my time on Earth," Thor explained. "I created a small plantation of coffee beans and when I want to make coffee, I roast the beans myself. It is becoming a common beverage, actually."

A palace servant came up to them and said something to Thor in a low voice.

"Thank you," Thor said, nodding.

The man gave a short bow and left.

"Your rooms are ready, and traditional Asgardian clothing has been provided," Thor told the others. "Come, your rooms are just down the hall."

"Thor?" Diana asked, putting a hand on his arm lightly.

"Yes Diana?"

"Why, if Asgard is so advanced, do you still have servants?"

Thor nodded understandingly and gave her a small smile. "They are simply doing jobs, just like anyone on Earth would do a job. Their shifts are six hours long, and they have apartments in the palace for themselves and their families. They choose to work here, and they could choose to work anywhere else in Asgard whenever they want."

Diana nodded. "Okay. Cuz the whole medieval thing had me worried."

Thor chuckled. "Slavery and servitude was outlawed before I was even born, dear heart."

"Oh. Good. That's good."

He showed them to their rooms. Steve and Diana were sharing a beautiful apartment, and Bruce had one that would easily fit his green counterpart. "Your clothes will be in the dressers," Thor instructed. "Dinner is in two hours, and a servant will come to fetch you."

Diana let Steve close the door and inspected the bathroom. It was a huge tub with a waterfall-looking arrangement for a shower, and there were bottles of things labeled in Asgardian runes. Before her eyes, they rearranged themselves into English labels. "Whoa."

She took a quick bath, and was amazed when the Asgardian soap left her skin feeling as smooth as silk. She got out of the bath and found Steve sketching the view from their window. "Your turn," she told him.

He closed the sketch book and got up, kissing her on the cheek. "You're going to love your dress," he promised her, and went into the bathroom.

She opened the closet door with a feeling of trepidation, and grinned. Yeah. The dress was great. It was light blue and almost Grecian in design, a low slung belt on her hips adding an understated bit of decoration. It fit perfectly, and swirled around her ankles. There was a matching pair of flats provided, and a silver hair clip on the nearby table. And, to her delight, the rest of the table was covered in cosmetics.

By the time Steve came out of the shower, dressed in his own Asgardian clothing and looking like a dashing prince himself, she was almost completely ready. She turned to face him, securing the last bobby pin in her braid. "How do I look?" she asked.

He smiled. "Like a woman out of legend."

She blushed. "Well, I was going for princess, but-"

"Oh, that too," he assured her.

There was a knock on the door.

"Remember," Diana said, as they followed the servant to the banquet hall, "Asgardian mead is way strong."

Steve grinned. "I remember."

Attending an Asgardian banquet was everything Diana thought it would. Everyone was drinking and laughing and talking and stuffing their faces, and even Steve was satisfied. He had enough wine to feel relaxed, and then stuck to water. Diana, knowing her absolute intolerance to everything alcohol, stuck to spiced tea the entire evening. Bruce politely rebuffed offers to spar with the Hulk from different warriors, but otherwise enjoyed himself.

It was maybe two in the morning when the inevitable upset happened. Half the attendees were passed out and the other half were quieting down to scattered conversations. Diana was leaning on Steve's shoulder, watching the fun.

BAM! The doors flew open and an enraged Odin strode through the doors, startling everyone who was still conscious. Thing was, Odin was also sitting at the head of the table.

"YOU!" the enraged Odin yelled, pointing to the sitting one. "YOU UNGRATEFUL USURPER! First you bring chaos and cause the death of your mother, but to take my place as KING!"

Thor rocketed to his feet, Mjolnir in his grasp as he glanced from one Odin to another. "What is the meaning of this?" he asked.

The seated Allfather slowly stood up, and before everyone's eyes, transformed into a tall, thin, pale man with green eyes and jet-black hair. "Surprise," he smirked.

Steve and Bruce both stood, subtly pushing Diana behind them. Steve was sorely missing his shield, which was sitting on the bed in their quarters.

"Loki," Thor breathed, Mjolnir lowering slightly. "But, you died. How-"

"Will you never not fall for that trick?" Loki sneered. He pointed to Odin. "You were trapped in your Odin sleep, unable to rule. This giant oaf will never be worthy of the throne as long as he is infatuated with the mortals-"

"You still had no right-" Odin started.

" _I HAD EVERY RIGHT_!" Loki yelled, silencing the banquet hall.

"Loki," Thor said quietly, still trying to reason with him. "You took over while our father was asleep, and you did well. You were excellent. But now he has returned to us, you are done."

"And when the old man dies?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. "Who will take the throne? You?"

"If I must."

"If you must," Loki mocked. "Why don't you leave it to me."

"That's not how things work," Thor said firmly.

Loki shrugged. "It's too late."

There was the sound of a distant crash, and thunder began to rumble in the distance. The skies began to darken.

Odin's eye widened. "Loki. What have you done?"

"The gates of Valhalla have opened," Loki announced. "Hela's realm is being emptied."

Thor's face turned white as a sheet, and Odin's turned bright red with rage. The other Asgardian warriors were frozen, staring at each other uncertainly.

Steve cleared his throat. "Quick question from the non-gods in the room. What's going on?"

"The barrier between the dead and the living has been broken," Thor said, his grip on the hammer tightening. "The villains from the past and the monsters from the wastelands will descend upon Asgard to destroy everything we have built..."

"Ragnarok," Odin said wearily. He turned to his wayward son. "You have destroyed us all."

Loki smirks. "Good." He gave them all a mocking bow, and vanished in a swirl of blue energy.

Odin stepped to the head of the table and slammed his fist on the heavy boards. "Ragnarok has begun!" he bellowed, his voice echoing through the entire palace and waking up all the ones who'd passed out. "We will fight for our home, and for our families! We will not be destroyed!"

Everyone in the banquet hall cheered and rushed to stations.

"Okay, what's happening?" Diana asked.

Thor turned to his friends. "The end of Asgard. Again."

"What?"

"Every era, someone manages to open the seal between the normal realm and the place where the monsters live. Jormangunnd, the giant serpent, and others from our mythology, will come to destroy this place." He gave them a brief smile. "Our people have survived this before, we will do so again. But you must leave now if you are to survive."

"But how much of your people will survive?" Diana asked softly.

Thor shook his head. "I do not know."

She frowned. All those children... Her eyes lit up with an idea. "Thor, as manager of the Avengers and SHIELD, I can offer refuge to anyone who wants to come to Earth."

Thor's expression lightened a bit. "That would be excellent." He turned to Odin. "Father-"

"Do so," Odin commanded. He held his staff like a microphone and spoke into it. "All women and children go to the Bifrost. Keepers of the archives and technology banks will also join the expedition." The words boomed across the realm. He nodded to his son. "Go. Take them."

Thor ushered his friends out of the hall and they rushed out. A servant met them and gave Steve his shield.

"Will the Bifrost be able to take everyone all at once?" Diana asked, wheezing slightly as they ran, joining up with a mass of women and children heading for the Bifrost.

Thor nodded. "It will work."

The skies above Asgard were a dark red, the clouds crackling with energy. Suddenly, a giant serpent head darted from the clouds, its giant maw snapping at the people on the ground.

Thor let out a yell, grabbing its attention. He swung Mjolnir up to hit the serpent's jaw and snap it shut. "Go!" he yelled to the others.

The serpent dodged the next swing of the hammer, and zeroed in on the weak-fleshed mortals.

Bruce reacted on instinct, his heart hammering, and Hulked out. The Hulk grabbed the serpent's head and dug in his heels, giving Steve and Diana time to scramble away. "GO!" he yelled. "HULK STAY! SMASH!"

Thor grabbed a small crying girl off the ground and picked up the pace. They were halfway across the bridge and people were still coming. The skies were filling up with shattered Chitauri Leviathans. He gave the little girl to Steve and looked at Diana. "Take care of my people," he said solemnly.

She nodded. "Be careful."

He nodded, and turned to face the coming onslaught.

Heimdall was fighting a smaller serpent with wings that was blocking the Bifrost entrance. Steve pulled the shield off his back and threw it, hitting the serpent's spine and cracking it in half with the force of the blow. The shield ricocheted back and he caught it.

The little girl stared at him in awe, and he grinned.

Heimdall gave Steve a thankful nod, and ushered as many people as he could into the chamber. "I will hold it open as long as I can," he told Diana.

The Bifrost opened with a roar, and as soon as they were upon the stamp in the lawn in the backyard of the Avengers facility, Diana turned to usher everyone off the smoking lines. Women and children kept appearing and appearing from the tunnel, filing out.

"Keep moving, keep moving!" Diana called, waving them all forward.

Steve handed the little girl to Diana and lifted his shield just in case something unexpected came through as well.

At least five hundred people had come through the Bifrost when the energy tunnel began to sputter. "Uh-oh," Diana muttered, the little girl's arms clamping around her neck tightly.

Another three children stumbled onto the grass, and the Bifrost closed with a roar and a flash of light.

The silence was deafening.

Diana forced back a wave of fear for her soulmates, and turned to look at the crowd. They were all looking at _her_. She swallowed hard, and gave them all a tentative smile. "Welcome to Midgard. Follow me."

She and Steve led them to the veranda, and had them wait there.

The Avengers facility was empty of superheroes, but there were SHIELD agents working around the complex. Diana spoke up. "FRIDAY, where's Fury?"

"Col. Fury is not in the complex," FRIDAY reported.

"Of course he isn't," Diana muttered. Ninety-nine percent of the time, he was nowhere to be found. On Avenger's agenda, yeah right. Presumably, he was running his own ops, off the books, as usual. "Hill, report to the veranda, please. We have a situation."

"On my way."

Diana went back outside and let the little girl go to one of the Asgardian women.

"Uh... did I miss a memo?" Hill asked, from the doorway, eyeing the sea of people cautiously.

"No," Diana said, waving her forward. "This is one scenario nobody really saw coming, not even Coulson. These are refugees from Asgard. We're taking care of them till the battle's over."

"What battle?"

"Armageddon for Asgardians," Diana said briefly. "Where's the team?"

Hill shook her head slowly. "Still in Norway. Apparently all the old shrines and temples in the country are going berserk."

"That would be the after-effects of the war," Diana said, nodding. "Call Tony, get him to authorize using SHIELD resources to care for these people. Let's get a call in to the UN, and..." she looked out at the grounds and her gaze stopped on a glassed-in gazebo. "The backyard is now an Asgardian embassy. Sovereign ground. We'll tell them that."

Hill raised an eyebrow but merely made a note on her tablet. "All right. We're going to need ready-made structures, food..." She did an about-face and went inside, yelling for FRIDAY and half a dozen senior agents.

Diana turned back to the Asgardians. "Who here has the most authority?" she called. "Highest rank?"

An older woman with silver hair stepped forward. She was carrying a huge metal box easily on her shoulders. "That would be me. I am Vora, Keeper of the Archives."

Diana gave her a respectful bow. "Ma'am. I'm sorry for this, but bureaucracy on this planet is slow. While we set up a dedicated space, however many people fit in the housing buildings of this complex are welcome to the rooms, and everyone else will have to stay in little shelters on the grass."

Vora gave her a small smile. "We are a warrior race, dear. This is nothing new to any of us."

Diana nodded. "Will the archives need to be stored anywhere specific? We have vaults, and temperature controlled rooms."

"That would be appreciated." Vora gestured to several other men and women and they came forward.

Diana looked at Steve. "You got this?"

He nods.

"Okay." She opens the door and ushers the older Asgardians inside.

They finally settled on a temperature-controlled vault, placed all their chests inside, and dropped the humidity slightly. "All right," Diana said, showing them the pass code. "With this, all of you can access this vault if you need to."

"Thank you." Vora looked at one of the few men. He had a long white beard and looked vaguely like Merlin. "Will you stay here and keep watch?"

He nodded, and opened one of the chests.

Diana's jaw dropped. "Is that bigger on the inside?"

"Of course. How else would it all fit?" Vora gave her a reassuring smile. "He will keep an eye on the battle for us, and write down the fulfillment of the prophecies."

"Prophecies?" Diana echoed.

Vora's gaze darkened. "Those who sit on high have finished the loom of fate. Each man and woman of Asgard is connected to a string. And sometimes we know how they will end."

Diana frowned. "What about Thor?"

Vora shook her head. "We don't know. Thor's string was broken once he came to Midgard for the first time. No one can predict his actions now."

Diana felt a little bit better about that.

They headed back outside. SHIELD agents were setting up little plastic homes usually used for natural disaster sites, and offering medical attention to anyone who needed it.

The keepers dispersed to mingle with their people, and Diana joined Steve and Maria. Maria nodded at her. "Total count is five hundred and ninety-two Asgardians. One of the women told us that was almost everyone from the main city. If we transfer out all the non-essential agents we've got room for two hundred inside the complex. Stark offered us use of the Tower's housing, and that's another hundred if they double up. Everyone else will fit outside in temporary housing."

"Vora might have something to help with that," Diana suggested. "They brought a lot of technology with them."

Maria nodded and moved off to talk to Vora.

Diana turned to look at Steve. "How are you? Are you okay?"

"I should be asking you that," Steve replied, touching her cheek lightly. "You all right?"

She nodded. "When it all sinks in I'll probably freak out but right now I'm okay. Still hyped up on adrenaline."

The sound of a quinjet caught their attention, and they watched it disappear in the hangar. "I wonder who came back," Steve mused.

Diana glanced over at Maria. The super-spy had it handled. "Let's go see who's home."

They headed to the quin-jet and found Pietro, Natasha, and Vision exiting the quinjet. "What cut the party short?" Natasha asked.

Diana stared at her for a second in confusion and then realized she and Steve were both in Asgardian formal wear. She sighed. "Loki caused the end of the world."

Natasha's eyes narrowed. "What."

"Where is Doctor Banner?" Vision asked, interrupting Natasha's impeding freak-out.

"Fighting alongside Thor and the other warriors," Steve said.

"Also, we've got six hundred Asgardian refugees who are our guests until further notice," Diana added.

Natasha pinched the bridge of her nose. "Okay, from the beginning, please?"

Diana and Steve quickly explained what was going on, and finished with, "We're doubling up on rooms to fit the kids indoors."

Natasha nodded. "I left Falcon in charge of crowd control in Norway. How can we help?"

It wasn't until late evening that they finished settling everyone into quarters and feeding everyone. Pizza, mostly. The kids _loved_ it, especially the pepperoni and cheese kind. With the sheer amount of pizza boxes left over, Pietro suggested just lighting them on fire and doing a marshmallow roast. The kids loved that, too.

Steve and Diana were sitting with a few of the older children, showing them how to roast marshmallows one layer at a time, when Vora came over, sitting next to Diana. "Thank you for doing this," Vora said quietly, and the two women smiled as Steve flicked a piece of marshmallow at one of the boys.

"Teaching them about marshmallows?" Diana asked lightly.

Vora shook her head. "Taking the time to do all of this. Most mortals would leave us to fend for ourselves."

Diana gave her a reassuring smile. "It's our pleasure."

One of the little girls ran up to Vora. "Lady Vora!"

"What is it, dearest?" Vora asked, pulling the little girl into her lap.

The little girl leaned her head on Vora's shoulder. "I miss my mommy. When is she coming home?"

Diana winced at the innocent question and hid her face in Steve's shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her.

"Well," Vora said, giving the heavens a calculating look, "the sky has not fallen, so the battle must be going well. We must be patient, little one, until our brave warriors come back." She kissed the little girl on the forehead. "Would you like to stay with me tonight, child?"

A tight hug was the only reply.

Vora gave the Rogers' a smile. "If you'll excuse me."

"Of course," Diana said. "Sleep well."

The marshmallow roasting tapered off, and Diana and Steve didn't go to bed until everyone had figured out where they were sleeping. Natasha and Pietro were asleep in their living room, having given up their quarters to refugees, and Vision was making rounds. The other Avengers were on their way back from Norway, having settled SHIELD details on the ancient shrines. Besides the fact that there were six hundred people in the backyard, two of her soulmates were fighting for their lives a realm away... Diana groaned and rolled out of bed, switching on the lamp.

"What's wrong?" Steve asked quietly, instantly awake.

Diana shook her head. "Can't sleep. I'm just going to read for a bit."

He closed his eyes. "Don't stay up too late, doll." And he was asleep again.

Diana leaned against the headboard, her latest novel in her lap, and tried to read. She read the same paragraph about seven times before giving up. Instead she grabbed her tablet and started working on the Asgardian embassy thing. The UN was incredulous about the whole issue, and so Diana sent them proof and implied that if they tried to touch any of the Asgardian people at all, she'd set loose a green rage monster in their midst. It was a very light insinuation, by her standards, but it was good enough to get confirmation of temporary sovereign ground from the US government fifteen minutes later. Someone in the White House was working late...

Diana turned her attention then to the budget, trying to figure out how she was going to feed and maintain six hundred people. They might have to sell a quinjet, or market a few of R&D's toys to the highest bidder...

A hand reached out and removed the tablet from her lap.

"Hey!" she protested, turning to glare at Steve.

He placed the tablet on _his_ bedside table and gave her a look. "It's three in the morning, sweetheart. You need to sleep."

"I'm not tired." She leaned over his chest, trying to reach her tablet. Her arms weren't long enough.

He collapsed her elbow gently, just enough for her to fall on top of him, and he wrapped her up in his arms. "I know you're worried about Thor and Bruce," he said gently, catching her gaze as she fidgeted. She froze. "But you have to trust that they'll be okay, and you need to go to sleep. You've got a big day tomorrow."

She sighed in defeat and sank into his embrace. "Fine."

"FRIDAY, lights please." He pressed a kiss to her forehead and rubbed her back gently. "I love you."

"Love you too." _Be safe_ , she thought to her soulmates.

 **A/N:** And to reply to Poptropicafan101: That sounds like a great idea, and will definitely be incorporating that in a later chapter. Thanks!


	32. Chapter 32

**A/N: Finally, the second half of Ragnarok. I don't know why that chapter was so hard for me to write, oh my goodness... Anyway, hope you enjoy.**

HULK SMASH. HULK TIRED. HULK HATE SNAKES. The green fighting machine punched a dragon in the face and crushed its jaw before it could spew fire at Volstagg.

"Thank you my friend!" the husky warrior bellowed.

Hulk roared back in response. "WHERE THUNDER HAMMER?" he asked.

"HERE!" Thor called. He was fighting in the central plaza, electrocuting resuscitated Ice Giants by the droves.

Hulk went in smashing, and cleared the plaza long enough for them to get away. "FIGHT TOO LONG," he grumbled.

"I agree," Thor said, wiping his brow. "We need to figure out a way to seal off the realm."

"PUNY GOD," Hulk huffed.

"Loki," Thor agreed. "We need to find Loki."

Sif and the Warriors Three joined them. "He is in the library," Sif reported. "He has cast a shield around the entire room."

"Again with the library," Thor mused. "He must still be looking for something."

Hulk batted away a flaming cannonball. "GET HIM AND FIX."

"Agreed." Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. "Let us unravel the mystery."

They made it to the library relatively unscathed. Loki was in the center of the room, skimming through the books. He looked panicked, and he had an open cut on his face.

"Loki!" Thor yelled, pounding on the energy barrier with Mjolnir, feeling it shudder under the weight of the hammer. "Cease this nonsense!"

"I can't!" Loki yelled back.

"Yes you can! Your point is proven! Just close the gates of Valhalla! Hela is your daughter, just tell her! Loki please!"

Loki slammed his fists on the table, making it shatter. "You don't understand Thor! I literally cannot close the gates. Someone else is holding them open." He removed the energy barrier with a wave of his palm. "This was always meant to happen, if not me then someone else. It was predicted, it was, fate."

"Fate," Thor scoffed. "We make our own destiny."

"We do not," Loki replied sharply. "Not in this realm." He waved a hand and suddenly there were thin glowing lines running from people's chests, zigzagging across the room. Out of the window, they could see that all Asgardians had these lines. "These are the threads in the loom of fate," Loki explained. "When I fell, the first time, I saw them. They were shown to me. All of this-" He waved a hand and let out a mad cackle, "all of it, Thor, the fall, the destruction of the Bifrost, the Convergence, the gates of Valhalla, this is all in the tapestry that leads to our destruction."

"Then who is weaving the tapestry?" Sif interrupted, never one for drama.

"Those who sit on high," Loki replied, his voice hushed. "They keep tabs on us all."

"That's not dramatic at all," Fandral said dryly. "Where are they?"

Loki waved a hand at the scattered books. "I know not. I have been trying to find information but it is merely myths, whispers, footnotes in history."

"The Allfather knows," Thor said, his face grim. "He should know. That is why he sacrificed his sight. He wanted to see how this ends. Where is he, Loki?"

"Last I saw he was fighting the great serpent," Loki replied.

"FIND ODIN," Hulk grunted, and grabbed the back of Loki's collar. "PUNY GOD STAY."

"No, no, best, I need to go with Thor,' Loki said. "Odin is too weak to use his powers to send us."

Thor nodded. "Hulk, hold on to him."

Hulk gave a pleased grin, and tucked the trickster under his arm like a football.

The group found Odin battling the serpent. The Warriors Three distracted Jormanngund while Thor grabbed his father. "Tell us what you know about those who sit on high!" Thor demanded.

Odin's chest heaved as he tried to regain his breath. "The loom," he gasped. "They control it, they feed on the energy that comes from this realm. Each destruction, each rebirth, fuels them for millennia. They weave our fates to end in Ragnarok each cycle."

"How do we fix it?" Sif asked.

Odin reached out to touch his son's shoulder. "Thor," he said gravely. "I sent you to Earth to teach you humility."

"I don't think that's going to solve our problems," Loki interrupted.

Hulk placed a hand over the silver tongue's mouth. "SHUT UP," he said firmly.

Odin rolled his eye. "I sent Thor to Midgard for another reason as well."

"STRING," Hulk said, tapping gently at Thor's chest.

"Exactly, Dr. Banner," Odin said. "Changing into a mortal and crossing into a realm unobserved by those who wield the loom breaks the thread of an Asgardian. Thor is the one element in this realm that they cannot predict, that they cannot control." He rested his hands on Thor's shoulders. "You are the only one that can save us, Thor. You must destroy the loom and break the cycle. Only then can the gates of Valhalla be closed." He sagged against the broken wall with a sigh. "That is what my eye was worth. The salvation of our species and my sons."

Loki looked up, startled. "Sons?"

"No matter what you have done, Loki, you are still my son," Odin said heavily. "And you are the only one who can send Thor through the energy rift connecting Asgard to the loom." He pressed a hand to his side.

Sif reached out to his side. "You are wounded, my king."

"The bite of the serpent is fatal," Odin replied, gasping in pain as she peeled back his armor.

Thor reached out, expression stricken. "Father-"

Odin grasped his arm in a warrior's handshake. "Go. And know that I am proud of both my sons."

Loki reached out to touch his side, a pulse of blue energy coming from his fingertips. "To ease the pain," he explained, his expression solemn.

Odin nodded in thanks.

Thor stood, his heart heavy, and pulled Loki to his feet. "May the Valkyries be swift," he said. "Sif?"

"I will stay with him," Sif promised. She glanced towards the serpent. "This garter snake will decorate my home by the end of the day," she swore.

Thor smirked, and with one last glance at his dying father, the three of them left, cutting a swathe through the fighting.

They made their way to the palace and climbed to the balcony directly under the rift. "JUMP?" Hulk asked doubtfully.

"I don't think even you can jump that high," Loki replied.

Hulk snorted, his expression saying 'You wanna bet?'

Loki took a cautious step backwards. "Anyway," he said pointedly, looking at Thor, "I can teleport you and the Hulk to the point of origin of the energy drain. I do not know where you will end up, and I cannot guarantee that I can get you back." He paused and they all looked up as another wave of monsters flew out of the rift. "The only thing I can guarantee is to try and keep this realm standing while you fight. Which, is how it always works."

Thor grabbed him in a half-hug. "I will see you soon, brother."

"Brother," Loki replied grudgingly, and shoved him away. "Now stand still, both of you. I don't want to leave a piece of you behind."

Hulk growled warningly.

"Jesting, only jesting," Loki assured him. He raised his sceptre, and narrowed his eyes, trying to focus in the chaos.

Suddenly Thor felt his whole being unraveling. He managed to glance over, and saw Hulk going through the same process. It was unsettling but painless, and then Thor blacked out.

He opened his eyes what felt like a moment later, and found himself in the dark. It was pitch black, and only the quiet breathing of the Hulk beside him assured him that he was not dead. "Hulk?" he asked quietly.

"NOT LIKE," Hulk decided, in his version of a whisper.

"Shh," Thor replied.

"Which way?" Hulk asked, barely breathing the question out.

Thor summoned a lightning storm the size of his hand to provide light, and they realized they were in a tunnel. "Up?" he suggested.

Hulk shrugged and let Thor lead the way.

They walked up the gently sloping tunnel and then Thor realized something. "Our footsteps," he whispered. "There is no sound."

Hulk brought his foot down lightly. Not even a tremor in the floor. "SNEAKY," he rumbled, grinning.

"Sneaky," Thor agreed.

They crept up the tunnel. It got steadily brighter, and Thor banished the lightning ball. They got to the end of the tunnel and stopped to survey the territory. "IMAX," Hulk whispered, impressed.

It was a giant dome the size of the largest football stadium, and it was constantly flickering and lighting up with different flashing images. Right now all the images were of war and destruction. It was a complete view of Asgard... Scattered through the dome was an open complex of cubicles. Each cubicle had a throne-like chair, and each chair was pointed at a certain section of the sky. Thin colored threads of energy spun down from the surface of the dome, weaving together in a giant loom in the exact center of the floor. It was a huge loom, showing the events that spanned millennia. And the loom was almost full, the tapestry almost completed. Threads of different colors were running out and pieces of the dome were blacking out.

Thor realized, enraged, that these were the life threads of his fellow Asgardians, and they were dying. And then before his eyes, Odin's thread, at the very top of the dome, stopped coming. The section blacked out. He saw red.

Hulk grabbed his arm before the thunderer could bolt into the dome. "PLAN," he hissed. "PLAN FIRST THEN SMASH."

Thor nodded, pushing his rage to the back of his mind. He was king now. He _had_ to save his people. "I think we are going to need Dr. Banner's expertise," he admitted, tugging Hulk back into the darkness of the tunnel.

Hulk grunted in agreement, braced himself against the tunnel, and shrunk down to a rumpled Bruce Banner. He pulled his pants up quickly, and tied a knot in the belt loops to keep it up. "Hey," he said roughly, rubbing his face with his hands. "What's going on, again?"

Thor gave him a spare shirt he'd stuffed into one of his armor pockets, and handed him a chunk of high-protein dried beef to eat. "Quickly, replenish your strength," he urged, and while Bruce ate, he updated him on what was going on and where they were.

"My kingdom for a computer," Bruce said wryly.

"You can have mine," Thor retorted, helping him to his feet.

"I'm sorry for your loss," Bruce said soberly.

Thor clapped him lightly on the shoulder. "Thank you, my friend. Now, let us stop some evil fiends."

"Story of our lives," Bruce replied, and they inched forward. His eyes widened when he saw the dome, and he traced the connections between the chairs and the loom. "Who's in the chairs?" he asked.

"Don't know," Thor said.

"Okay. You can worry about them, right? We need to disrupt the loom device. If we can destroy it before the tapestry completes, it'll close the gates of Valhalla, right?"

"We hope," Thor said grimly.

"All right. Let's do this."

They crept further into the dome, unnoticed by anyone, and encountered the first cubicle throne. There was a sea-green humanoid being wearing black robes seated in the throne, his/her/it's? head tilted back to watch the flickering live-stream, black eyes reflecting the images dimly.

The being was surrounded by a few other wispy, shadowy beings that adjusted dials and ministered to the being in the throne.

"Some sort of slave species?" Bruce whispered.

Thor shook his head. "Basic illusions, more basic than Loki's clones." He guided Bruce around one of the shadows and they ducked down to cross an open area.

None of the beings noticed them, and they made it to the center loom. "Uh-oh," Bruce muttered, squinting at the loom. "I think there's a force-field."

Thor reached out gingerly to touch it, and his hand was repelled with force. "Yes. The barrier is probably caused by all the energy streaming into the loom."

"Okay... so how do we turn it off?" Bruce murmured, following the bottom of the loom into the floor. He peeled up a portion of the floor to get a look at the mechanism. "Hm. Superconductors in the floor... that's why it's insulated so well..."

A quiet chiming began to sound. The wraith-like illusions all stiffened and turned towards Bruce and Thor.

"Uh, you've got this?" Bruce asked, gesturing to the incoming illusions.

Thor spun his hammer. "I've got this," he assured the scientist.

Bruce traced the power source, which looked vaguely Tesseract-like, except bright sea-green. "This must be what they're charging with the energy from each Ragnarok," he said. "It's like the longest-lived battery of all time."

"That is the destruction of my people they're using to charge it," Thor said bitterly, smacking fifteen illusions into oblivion.

"What if I just unplug it?" Bruce asked, leaning back on his heels and looking for any booby traps. "And then, the Other Guy can swallow it."

"Is that the plan?" Thor asked.

"No," Bruce said. "Maybe? I don't know, you're the tactical one."

Thor frowned. "If you can unplug it, I can shatter the loom. Then we can use the battery to send us back to Asgard."

"All right." Bruce gripped the edges of the power source, feeling the radiation pouring from it, and let the Other Guy come out to handle the threat.

The Hulk yanked the power source from the floor, causing a surge of feedback up through the loom that arced towards the dome and shattered the screens. The threads of fate unraveled and disappeared, no longer tethered to the loom. Chaos ensued and the sea-green beings started screaming in rage, unable to leave their chairs. The Hulk dropped the battery onto the unfinished tapestry and wrapped it up so the battery would not burn his fingers. They healed instantly, but he would rather save himself the trouble.

Thor covered his head as the shattered glass finally reached them and started to crash onto the ground. "We must depart," he said, tapping the Hulk's arm.

"GO," Hulk said, making a beeline for the tunnel.

"Don't take it!" one of the beings yelled in shrill, accented Asgardian. "The loom fuels our entire civilization, all our virtual realities!"

"These games? These slices of peoples' lives?" Thor scoffed. "Use your energies to live your lives! Find your entertainment elsewhere. Your control of Asgard is over." He smashed one of the dome's supports on the way out and joined Hulk in the tunnel.

They hustled down the tunnel lit by the battery's glow, and soon came to the rift that Loki had teleported them through. "HOME," Hulk said impatiently, keeping an ear out for the distant explosions in the dome.

"Well, how do we use it?" Thor asked. "Engineering is not my strong suit."

Hulk sighed, transformed back into Bruce, and promptly dropped the tapestry-wrapped battery. "Ugh, I can't take much more of this," he groaned, cracking his entire spine as he stretched.

"Almost there," Thor said, helping him stand.

"Uh...okay, okay, this is... the rift is still there, right? We just can't get to it?"

"Right."

"And we need some way to get through it, in energy form," Bruce said, staring at the battery.

Thor dropped his hammer onto the floor. It didn't even make a noise as it fell.

Bruce stared at the floor idly as he thought. Then he realized something. "The floor is superconductive," he said. "Thor, burn the insulation off."

Thor nodded, and picked up Mjolnir. He created a vortex of fire that burned the insulation off a two-foot circle.

"Handy trick," Bruce murmured.

"Yes," Thor said. "What next?"

"Uh..." he frowned at the battery lying on the superconductive material. "We need some way to pull the energy from the battery."

Thor hefted Mjolnir. "What if I hit it?"

Bruce grinned. "Genius." He stepped backwards onto the insulated part and motioned for Thor to do the same. "Smash."

Thor smirked, and brought the hammer down onto the battery. A power surge lit the tunnel like a wave of fire and for a split second they could see it: the rift, rippling blue and delicate in spacetime. "JUMP!" Thor yelled, scooping up the battery with the edges of the tapestry.

He and Bruce leaped -

-And landed in a heap on the smooth, cobble-stoned pavement of a street in Asgard.

Bruce rolled over to stare at the sky. The beautiful, gates of Valhalla-less sky. He let out a giggle of exhaustion. "We did it."

"We did it," Thor echoed, also flat on his back. He huffed out an exhausted laugh. "Asgard is safe." He hauled himself to his feet and extended a hand to the exhausted Banner. "Come my friend, let us go to the palace."

As they walked, they found the survivors slowly making their way towards the palace as well. It seemed like as soon as they'd shattered the loom, the gates of Valhalla had swung closed and those of Hela's realm had stopped dead. The streets were littered with those of Hela's realm and Asgard's own slain. There were mercifully few of the latter.

Sif met them in the palace grounds. "Thor," she called, relieved, giving him a huge hug.

He hugged her tightly. "You are safe," he said, equally relieved.

She touched his cheek lightly. "Is it over?"

"Yes." He sobered. "Odin?"

"In his chambers," Sif replied somberly. "Fandral is holding vigil."

"And Loki?"

She shook her head. "We think he is dead. He was still inside a building when it fell. He was trying to get a group of children out."

Thor winced.

"I'm sorry, Thor," she said softly.

He kissed her sweaty forehead. "He fought for us, Sif. I will not mourn his honorable death." His brief smile didn't quite reach his eyes.

Bruce, partially spaced out due to exhaustion, half-stumbled, half-followed them inside. Asgardian healers were already setting up shop, and the great hall was starting to look like a triage clinic. He handed the tapestry and battery to Thor. "Here," he muttered, going over to lend a hand.

"What is that?" Sif asked.

"The cause of Asgard's grief," Thor replied, sighing. He was already sick of looking at it. "We will leave it in the vault until we have need of it."

Sif gave him a short bow. "Yes, my king."

Thor paused. He'd forgotten. He was the king now. He turned to find everyone in the great hall staring at him. He lifted Mjolnir slightly in acknowledgement. "We won," he said simply.

They all cheered, even the wounded, and went back to work.

Thor gathered up the rest of the warriors who still had some strength left, and they swept the city for stragglers and injured. There were still hundreds of families, children, on the outskirts of the main city, and a few of the villages were hard-hit by the fighting. Thor moved them all into the palace, where at least the underground parts were still structurally sound. The weather was acting up, even after he exerted his influence. It was something only calmed by time.

"We can't stay here," he decided, after a stressful night gave way to a stressful day.

Hogun spoke up. "Vanaheim would gladly shelter those who wish to come with us," he offered.

"Thank you my friend," Thor said, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Does the Bifrost even work right now?" Bruce mumbled, his head resting on the conference table. He'd been dozing off and on all night in between helping the wounded.

"Heimdall was injured, but the bridge should still work," Sif replied. "It was only a bit dented."

So Thor retrieved Heimdall's sword from the side of his sickbed, and sent most of the remaining families and wounded to Vanaheim for refuge until the realm was rebuilt. The rest went to Midgard with Thor and Bruce.

When the Bifrost dropped them on the grass, they found, "a tent city?" Bruce asked, surprised.

"Thor!" Diana appeared from around the corner of the tent and threw her arms around him. "Are you all right?"

"I am well, Diana," Thor said tiredly, accepting the hug gratefully. "Asgard still stands."

"More or less," Bruce added wryly, and got his hug next.

"Is this everyone?" Diana asked, surveying the new refugees calmly.

"We left a few to guard the realm," Thor replied, "and the Vanir have given the rest shelter."

Diana nodded and gave him a look. "And, Odin? Loki?"

Thor shook his head, tears stinging his eyes.

Diana stifled a gasp and hugged him again. "I'm sorry," she murmured into his shoulder, running her fingers through his tangled hair.

He took a deep breath and composed himself.

She suddenly leaned back. "Wait. Does that mean... you're king?"

He bowed his head briefly. "At your service, my lady."

She curtsied. "Your Highness." She tugged at his hand. "Come on. You can get cleaned up and eat before you deal with everything."

Thor slung an arm around Bruce as they walked through the tents, supporting the smaller man who was nearly asleep on his feet.

"And you mister," Diana said, giving Bruce a proud smile, "the historian with far sight told us that you were instrumental in saving Asgard. You and the Other Guy worked together."

"Yes we did," Bruce said, smiling at the thought of it.

She squeezed his hand. "Now can you see what everyone else has been telling you for ages?"

He nodded.

"Good. Now you're going to do nothing but sleep and eat for at least a week."

"Sounds good to me."

Thor eyed the tent arrangements with slight awe. "How did you get everything organized so quickly?"

Diana smiled. "Well, once we established Asgard as a sovereign nation on good terms with the UN, everyone pitched in. The official embassy office is the big gazebo over there, for meetings and stuff. Tony donated some screens and a phone line. This whole field is counted as Asgardian soil."

Thor nodded slowly. "Thank you Diana, for caring so well for my people."

Diana gave him a small grin. "They're kind of my people too."

"They are," Thor said. "You are technically the next in line for the throne if something happens to me, as I have no wife or heir."

Diana blanched. "What."

"Tis true," Vora added, coming over. She bowed to Thor. "My king."

"Lady Vora," Thor replied gravely.

"We are at your command," Vora said, gesturing to the other archivists.

He nodded. "Thank you for your service."

Vora gave him a gentle smile. "Go eat and rest Thor. You have earned it."

Diana left Thor in his quarters and led Bruce to his own room. He'd never been in it before. She kicked out the SHIELD agents who were camping in Bruce's room, and made sure that the scientist ate before he passed out. Then, assured that her soulmates were safe, she went to find the other Avengers. Tony, Steve, Vision, and Wanda were in the kitchen, snacking. "Thor's back," she announced unnecessarily, seating herself on Steve's lap. "It's over."

Steve's arm wound around her waist. "How are they?"

"Exhausted, sore..." Diana explained to them what Thor had told her.

Tony checked his watch. "Speaking of rebuilding, I've got a meeting. Gotta go." He ruffled Diana's hair affectionately on his way out.

Diana stood up. "I'm going to go see if they need any help with the wounded or the new arrivals-"

Steve caught her wrist, holding her gently. "Diana, babe, you've been going non-stop for three days."

"There's things to do," Diana replied, shaking his hand away. She leaned over to kiss his cheek. "I won't overdo it, I promise. A full eight hours of sleep tonight. But later." She grabbed an apple off the counter and headed down the corridor.

"I will go see if they need my services," Vision said, following her.

Steve sighed and looked at Wanda. "Tell me I'm being overprotective and that she's perfectly fine."

Wanda hesitated. "You want me to lie to you?"

Steve sighed again.

"Do you want me to..." Wanda waved her hand, letting a glow of red energy spark from her fingers. "She'll have a dreamless sleep."

"You know she hates that," Steve replied. "But yes, if she doesn't sleep tonight, could you?"

Wanda nodded. "I think she forgets, sometimes, that she is not super-human."

Steve stood up. "We'll just have to ease the burden."

The healers were glad for all the hands they could get, and it was dark before the work subsided.

From there, Diana went to her office to work on her actual day job. She was on the phone when Steve came in. "Yes." She waved Steve to a chair. "Yes, Your Majesty. He's resting right now but we're anticipating a meeting of advisors tomorrow when he wakes." A pause. "About eighty percent of it, yes sir." She smiled. "That would be appreciated, yes. Tomorrow at noon? We'll be here. Yes sir. See you tomorrow." She hung up and jotted something down.

"Who was that?" Steve asked.

"T'Challa. He's coming by tomorrow to offer the Asgardians raw materials for rebuilding."

"That's nice of him."

She nodded, and yawned. "He can sympathize with kings who are trying to rebuild their countries after losing their father." She yawned again. "So what's up?"

"Well, it's midnight, and someone promised me that they were going to sleep eight hours straight. I've come to collect, ma'am."

Diana shook her head. "I'll be done in another hour, Steve, I just need to finish up with SHIELD. Norway is demanding a full report from me since Tony didn't tell them diddly-squat about the artifact commotion and the science division confiscated most of the relics to analyze them. Also about half of the relics actually belong to the Asgardians camping in our yard, so I need to get someone from SHIELD to give me a list. I'll call Phil, he's there right?" She picked up the phone.

Steve pulled the phone out of her hand. "You can call tomorrow." He powered down the computers. "Bed. Now."

"Steve-"

"Diana. You've slept _maybe_ seven hours' tops in the last _seventy-two_. You're not super-human and you need to go to sleep before you pass out or have a nervous breakdown."

"I'm not some delicate flower that needs coddling," Diana bristled.

"I know you're not," he replied patiently. "But you _are_ tired, and you're not paying attention to your body's needs. How are you supposed to help your other soulmate if you're exhausted and irrational?"

She glared at him, sighed, and dropped her forehead onto the desk with a 'thump'. "You're right. I'm sorry for snapping."

He walked around the desk and kissed her hair. "I know you're stressed, doll. It's all right. Just let me help you, please."

She groaned. "I just can't get my brain to stop thinking... now I know how Tony feels. I'm not even tired right now."

Wanda appeared in the doorway and gave Steve a look.

He nodded.

She held out a hand and let a small amount of red energy float across the room to sink gently into Diana's temple.

"No fair," Diana muttered, her muscles going slack. She sighed, completely asleep.

Steve picked her up easily and gave Wanda a nod of thanks. "Good night."

"Night Steve."

He carried his wife to their room, pulled her shoes and jeans off, and tucked her into bed. He got in bed and smiled when she turned and curled against him, seeking his warmth. Even in sleep she was always ready for a cuddle.

He kissed her forehead lightly and pulled her close. He fell asleep soon afterwards. His sleep, too, was dreamless, and he wondered afterwards if he could thank Wanda for that, as well.

Diana woke up eight hours later to the smell of coffee. She blinked awake and turned to look at Steve. He was dressed, drinking coffee, and looking at something on a tablet.

Abby was curled into Diana's side, her tail wagging as soon as she spotted Diana's eyes open. "Woof!" She licked Diana's face lovingly.

"Eww," Diana giggled, blocking the wet tongue. "Good morning to you too, baby." She wrapped her arms around the dog and scratched her belly. She looked over at Steve, who was watching his two girls with fondness. "Good morning, handsome."

"Morning, sweetheart." He leaned over to kiss her, and got a wet nose in his ear for his efforts. " _Abby_ ," he groaned, "come on, girl."

Diana smirked and sat up, stealing his coffee deftly. "What time is it?"

"Eight."

"Nat didn't break down the door?" Diana asked, surprised.

"I convinced her to let you sleep in," Steve explained.

"My hero," Diana said, leaning over to kiss him.

This time Abby did not interfere, choosing instead to dart out the door and sit on Pietro, who was still asleep in the living room.

"Hey!" came the indignant cry.

Diana snickered and broke the kiss. "C'mon, soldier boy, we've got work to do." She slid off the bed. "FRIDAY, is Thor up yet?"

"Yes, Mrs. Rogers. He is having breakfast with his comrades in the tent city."

"All right, thank you." She dressed in black slacks and a button-down shirt, and started to put on makeup.

"Makeup?" Steve asked, surprised.

"Two kings, an advisory council, and two directors," Diana counted off. "Of course I gotta wear makeup."

"Breakfast first," Steve reminded her.

"Yes dear."

They had breakfast in the common room and then headed out to the Asgardian embassy.

The morning was filled with damage reports and battle stories. It came down to: main city extremely trashed, mostly destroyed. Bifrost, in desperate need of repairs. Outer city and surrounding farmlands, mostly okay. Underlying fabric of space-time, stressed and holey as a teenager's gym sock. Casualties, not many but a lot of wounded.

T'Challa arrived just in time for lunch. He and Thor got along like a house on fire.

After lunch, the meeting picked up with restoration strategies.

T'Challa, Tony, and Bruce were extremely helpful in coming up with a priority list. Wakanda donated raw materials, and Steve offered the sheer labor force of the Avengers to help with the heavy lifting.

The Asgardians were impressed with the offers and the realm's willingness to help. "After these last few days, Your Majesty, I can see why humans are your favorite people," Vora said, watching the mortals play soccer with a few of the Asgardian children.

Thor smiled fondly. "Yes. There is much goodness in them."

Vora nodded. "Now, sir, there is the matter of, the funerals."

Thor sighed. "Yes, of course."

Diana heard them talking and came over to wrap an arm around Thor's waist. She didn't say anything, just stood there quietly as he and the other members of the council decided on the details of the Allfather's funeral and the ones for the other Asgardians slain in battle.

Thor looked down at his soulmate. "You will be there, Diana," he asked hopefully.

"Of course, if you want me to," Diana said instantly.

"You are the only family I have left," he replied.

She leaned into his side. "I won't leave you," she promised.

Vora nodded briefly. "Then we will journey to Asgard tomorrow, agreed?"

"Agreed."

 **A/N: Funerals and sadness and soulmatey-fluffness next chapter, but I don't know how long it'll take me because we're going on vacation and the next few days are going to be really hectic. I plead your patience :) Thanks for sticking with the story thus far!**


	33. Chapter 33

**A/N: It's finally here! Ugh, RL has been a mess. And this is the first time I've had access to wifi in days...anyway, without further ado, next chapter!**

Everything was a mess. Intellectually, Diana knew that everything was going to be a mess, but it was still a shock to see a place so regal and awe-inspiring turned upside down and smashed into rubble.

The small army of Asgardians got to work cleaning up and rebuilding, and Thor and Diana entered the palace. He led her to the royal quarters, and they entered Odin's rooms. The Allfather was laying on the bed, his hands folded peacefully across his chest, looking regal even in death.

Fandral, sitting beside the bed in silent contemplation, rose to his feet when Thor entered. "Your Majesty," he said somberly. He didn't even give Diana a flirty wink as was his wont.

Thor gave him a brief nod, but his eyes were on the body of his father.

Fadral gave a short bow and left the room.

Thor sat in the chair left by Fandral, and removed his helmet, and his armor. Sitting there by his father's bedside, he looked sad and vulnerable, and about ten thousand years younger.

Diana went to stand beside him, and placed a hand on his shoulder.

He put his hand over hers and squeezed it gently. "He was a good king," he said. "And for all his faults, he was my father, and I loved him."

"I know," she said softly. "He knew, too."

They stayed there for a moment, and then Thor stood up and retrieved his helmet. "Come," he said to his soulmate, offering her his arm, "there is much to do."

The two of them spent the day working with the others. Thor put his strength to good use, hauling away pieces of stone, so Diana got to use Mjolnir, smashing away at rubble in the streets and pulverizing it, or breaking it into gravel which could be swept away by giant cleaning animals. They were goats, but they were pseudo-mechanical and ate rocks and metal. "Are these your goats from the legends?" she asked Thor.

The king shook his head. "No. Those were childhood pets, actual goats, that used to cart us around as children."

"Oh." She glanced up at his somber expression. "Your brother?" she asked gently.

"We still have not found his body," Thor said, gesturing to the rest of the building.

"This is where he died?" Diana asked.

"This is the building," he said. "He saved the fifteen children in the daycare, but he didn't make it himself." He heaved a chunk of rock to the side with a sigh.

Diana handed him the hammer. "Here. Take a whack at it."

Thor took his grief and frustrations on the building, and Diana stood back and let him. She compared it to what the building had originally been, and sighed. So much work. Did Asgard have building bots? If not maybe Tony could donate a few from the SI Construction branch.

Thor suddenly let out a yell. "Diana! There is someone in the wreckage!"

Diana's heart dropped into her stomach and she raced forward to the ruins of the building. She raced down the crumbly steps to one of the lower levels and found Thor heaving blocks aside with frantic urgency.

"Help me," Thor said, nodding to Mjolnir.

She picked it up and started gently chipping away at one of the fallen support beams. Mjolnir bashed through it in a few gentle swings, and Thor heaved the rest of it away. Diana knelt by the bundle of cloth and gently pulled it away from the child-sized form. He was whimpering softly, curled in on himself. "Hey, sweetheart," she said softly, smoothing the dirty hair back from his forehead.

He let out a soft whimper and turned to face her. He had big green eyes. "Mother?" he asked softly.

She gasped and drew back. "Thor," she said quietly, "come here and tell me it's not who I think it is."

He knelt beside her and caught a good look at the small boy. His eyes widened. "Loki?" he breathed, reaching out to touch the boy's cheek.

The boy's eyes lit up and he launched himself into Thor's arms. "Brother!" he said joyfully.

Thor grabbed the little boy tightly, his shoulders stiff with tension. "Loki," he said again, his eyes filling with tears. "How can you be here?" He pulled back to inspect the little boy's features. "It really is you," he said, and hugged him again.

Loki put up with the squishing hold calmly, and laced his fingers around Thor's neck. "What's going on?" he asked. "Where are we?"

Diana ruffled his hair and gave him a gentle smile. "There was a war, and you were caught when the building came down. How do you feel?"

Loki shrugged.

Thor stood up, adjusting the little boy in his arms, and helped Diana to her feet. "We should let the healers look you over," he said gently.

Loki pouted. "No healers."

"Yes healers," Thor told him, ruffling his hair.

Diana stifled a giggle at the boy's pout, and followed Thor up the steps into the street.

Loki's eyes grew wide when he saw the destruction. " _What happened_?" he asked in a hushed whisper.

"Ragnarok," Thor said gravely. "But we survived it, Loki. I did, you did."

"What's Ragnarok?" Loki asked.

Diana and Thor shared a glance. "Amnesia?" Diana mouthed silently.

Thor shrugged and managed to pry Loki off his shoulder and set him on a healer's bench. He left Loki in the astonished healer's care, and walked with Diana over to the side.

"How did this happen?" Diana asked in a hushed voice. "How come he's a child and not a full grown adult?"

"I know not. Perhaps his powers created a feedback that turned him into a child. He was under an enormous amount of stress, teleporting us and then fighting. Perhaps it was a last effort to protect himself."

"A smaller bulk means a smaller target for falling debris?" Diana asked skeptically.

"Maybe."

"So what happened to his memories?" Diana pressed. "Could he be playing on our sympathies?"

Thor sighed. "I do not know. The healers will be able to tell, or maybe, Wanda?"

Diana shook her head. "I don't want Wanda anywhere near him."

Thor nodded. "I understand."

"What about Vision?" Diana asked. "He can't be manipulated." She gave Thor a brief hug. "I'll talk to Heimdall and get Vision here right away."

He kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Diana."

She gave him a quick smile and left.

Loki was staring at Thor, wide-eyed. Thor went over to his miniscule brother. "Why do you stare so?" he asked.

"Is that your lady love?" Loki asked in a hushed whisper.

Thor laughed. "No, little one, that is my platonic soulmate."

"Whatsa soulmate?" Loki asked, still hushed. "She's pretty."

Thor shook his head. "Don't get any ideas, little brother. She's married to a most worthy warrior of Midgard."

Loki nodded, and then frowned. "What's Midgard?"

Thor sighed. "Can you wait here for a moment while I talk to the healer?"

"Yes, brother." Loki kicked his heels on the bench and picked at his fingernails.

The healer looked tired. "Loki is now five years old, and as far as I can tell, he has no memories of his former life. He only knows that you are his brother, and he can do some rudimentary tricks with his powers, but he doesn't know how to do anything else. I would like a dedicated mental healer to check, however. You never can tell with Loki."

Thor nodded. "Lady Diana has gone to retrieve a mental healer from Midgard who possesses great power."

Diana power-walked into the Avengers compound and yelled for Vision. She got Vision, Pietro, and Natasha, as well. "What's wrong?" Natasha asked.

"I need Vision to come to Asgard to scan Loki's brain with the Mind stone so we can make sure his baby brain is actually empty and it's not a ploy."

They stared at her. Natasha actually looked stunned.

"Did you get hit in the head?" Pietro asked, turning Diana's head to the side gently to inspect it. "Any falling debris, any double vision?"

Diana pulled away from him gently. "No," she said, smacking him upside the head lightly. "It's the truth. We found a five-year-old Loki in the debris where he supposedly died. Apparently he doesn't remember anything but we need to make sure before the Asgardians can do anything."

Natasha huffed. "Don't fall for any of his tricks," she warned her soulmate.

"I won't," Diana said. "He's hurt too many of my soulmates to trust him too easily."

"Good." Natasha gave her a brief smile. "I'll update Steve."

Diana sighed. "Oh good. Thanks." She linked her arm with Vision. "C'mon, dearest."

Vision scanned Loki's brain, reviewed his memories, and pronounced him an actual five-year-old.

"So we can start anew," Thor said, giving Loki a reassuring smile.

"New?" Loki asked.

Thor handed him a well-loved children's book about the stars. "Almost new," he amended. He'd rescued it from Loki's rooms in the palace.

Loki plopped himself onto the floor and opened the book, instantly enraptured as holographic stars popped up from the book's pages.

"So what are you going to do with him?" Diana asked, as she, Thor, and Vision huddled in teh corner.

"He is still a prince," Thor said. "I can raise him properly this time, with full knowledge of his heritage and his family's love."

"He cannot stay here though," Vision said, gesturing to the chaos of destruction and rebuilding.

Thor shook his head. "I will have to take him to a place outside the city until things have calmed or rebuilt a little more."

"Will the others accept him?" Diana asked worriedly, glancing at hte scattered warriors and construction workers.

Thor nodded. "Asgardians believe in second chances."

"Good."

Sif entered the healer's quarters, looking for Thor. She came over and gave a short bow. "Your Majesty."

"Sif. What news?"

They started talking about news of the realm, and Diana and Vision excused themselves from the talk. Diana went over to Loki and sat down next to him. "Hello."

He smiled at her. "Lady Diana. Did you know that there are different types of stars?"

"What kinds of stars are they?" she asked.

He turned a few pages back in the book and started explaining it to her with the holograms, tossing them into the air like decorations.

"It's incredible isn't it?" Diana said, smiling at his innocent enthusiasm.

He climbed into her lap and snuggled back against her. He tipped his head backwards to look at her upside down. "I like you, Lady Diana. You're nice to me."

She kissed his forehead. "I like you too."

Two spots of red appeared on his pale cheeks and he ducked his head, embarrassed.

She wrapped her arms around his thin middle and rested her chin on his forehead. "Do Asgardians take naps, Loki?" she asked.

"Sometimes," he replied, snuggling into her. "Only if they are very little."

"Hm. And are you very little?"

"No," he said proudly, and yawned. "Well, maybe a bit."

She smiled. "Did you know Midgardians take naps even when they're grownups?"

"Really?"

"Uh-huh. And Thor takes naps, too." She lowered her voice and whispered into his ear. "Did you know he snores sometimes? Like a big old lion."

Loki giggled.

She smoothed his hair and let him settle against her shoulder. "Why don't you try taking a nap, kiddo? You must be tired from all the adventure of today."

He nodded drowsily. "Just a little bit tired."

She continued stroking his hair and humming under her breath, and five minutes later he was asleep, his head lolling against her neck as he breathed. She smiled to herself and closed the book. The stars fizzled from existence. She was getting kind of drowsy, too, the soft weight of the child in her lap and his body heat making her sleepy. She tilted her head back against the wall, and realized that Vision was still there, looking at her curiously. She raised an eyebrow at him. "What?" she asked quietly.

He sat down beside her and leaned against the wall. "I am merely amazed at how well you take care of everyone."

"He's just a child," Diana replied, "and Thor's brother, to boot. I could hardly do anything less."

Vision looked at her gravely. "You could do much less, and you know it."

She shook her head. "I couldn't, and _you_ know it." She laid Loki down on the nearest healer's cot and covered him with a blanket.

He sighed. "I have a feeling the others in the compound will not like it when we come back with an extra guest."

Diana frowned at him. "What are you talking about?"

"Are you not thinking of bringing Loki back to Earth while Asgard rebuilds?" Vision asked.

Diana's eyes lit up as she considered the idea. "Now that you mention it..."

Vision's eyes widened and he held up a hand. "I was going to dissuade you from the plan, Diana, don't get any ideas..."

"But Vision, it's a good plan," she replied. "He needs a place to stay that's not half-broken, and Thor can't take care of him right now even if they did move to the country, and right now is when he needs to learn compassion and kindness and that it's okay to be intelligent instead of brash."

"So you want to take him to the same place he tried to conquer?" Vision asked. "Where there are people that he tried to kill and control? Clint, for one, would never go with it."

Diana grimaced. "Maybe not."

"Diana..." he sighed. "I know you want to help, but-"

"But taking him to Earth is a mistake. I get it. I know. I just..." She smoothed his hair and tucked the blanket under his chin. "He's just a little kid, Vis."

"I know, Diana. But he needs to be with his own people that can help him develop his powers properly. Not to mention that you already work too much, and wouldn't have time to devote to a small child."

She sighed, and then sighed again. "Yeah." She gave Vision a defiant look. "I'm not going to abandon him and Thor, though."

"No one would expect you to."

"Good."

Thor came over and picked Loki up with one hand, settling him easily on an arm. "Come, we must get ready for this evening."

Diana and Vision changed into formal Asgardian wear, and joined the many Asgardians who were standing in the ranks around the cemetery where all Asgardians were buried. She stood next to Thor, as the royal soulmate, and Vision went to stand with the Warriors Three.

The bodies of the dead were all wrapped in neat shrouds and lined up on their respective pyres. Warriors in full armor were ready to light the fires, and they were all looking towards the new king.

Thor swallowed hard. For the first time in thousands of years he was actually nervous in front of a crowd. He glanced at Diana, and she smiled at him encouragingly. He took a deep breath, and began.

In Asgardian, not All Speak, Thor gave the traditional funeral blessings, commending them to the care of the universe. He described each of the fallen warriors briefly, and his voice broke when he came to Odin. "A wise king, who ruled this realm with everything that he was, and loved all his people in the same way. He gave his eye for knowledge of how this realm would end, and he worked to fight fate itself. And, as we are standing here today, he won. I only hope I can live up to the legends of the All Father." He saluted the body on the pyre.

Diana saw the shine of tears in his eyes and leaned forward, subtly pressing her arm against his.

He steadied his breath and nodded to the bearers of the torches. One by one they lit the pyres and set them aflame.

The pyres were soaked with fast-acting chemicals that burned through both wood and remains with brilliant intensity. And as they burned, the majority of the crowd dispersed, leaving only the family and friends of each of the fallen to stand vigil.

Diana stood with Thor the whole night until the fires burned out in early morning, and they solemnly received the remains of the All Father in a stone urn. And then Sif brought a sleepy Loki, and the four of them walked to the edge of the water. Diana held Loki on her hip, and they watched as Thor poured out the ashes over the edge, losing them with in the great tree of Yggdrasil.

The next morning Diana slept late, and found Vision and Loki playing a form of chess in the outer room. "Good morning, guys," she said, ruffling Loki's hair and kissing Vision's cheek.

"Good morning," Vision replied. "There's coffee in the carafe over there, and Thor wants to speak to you whenever you're ready."

"All right," Diana said. She lowered her voice. "How's he doing?"

Vision shook his head. "He seems fine. Certainly taking to his role with aplomb."

"Good." She poured herself a cup of coffee, watched the boys play chess, and then got dressed in soft breeches and a long flowing tunic. "All righty, how do I find Thor?"

Loki piped up. "He's in the throne room, Lady Diana. This time of day the king is always in the throne room, to talk to the people."

"Thank you, Loki." She gave him a smile and wandered her way through the half-ruined palace, carefully avoiding the destroyed hallways. Eventually she found herself in the throne room.

Thor was sitting, not on the destroyed throne, but on the top step, talking to a group of construction workers who were all sitting on the other steps up to the dais. A holographic projection floated through the sky, casting strange shadows through the rest of the room as it flashed projection figures for the next two months.

"Diana." Thor stood and walked over, giving her a hug. "Good morning."

"Good morning." She gave him a curious look. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

"I just wanted you to be here," Thor said. "Would you mind staying?"

Diana gave him a gentle smile. "Sure." She sat on the step next to him.

She spent the whole day sitting on the steps with Thor as he talked to the builders, and then he talked to a whole bunch of civilians who came to register their loss of property and homes, and then they had lunch with Sif and the Warriors Three, and then they walked down to the Bifrost to check on its rebuilding, and then they went on to the cemetery. There, she watched Thor bury the empty stone urn in a plot reserved for the royal family of Asgard. The headstones were elaborate but small, and there was one for Frigga, one for Odin, and one for Baldr, and one for someone incongruously named Eloise.

Thor knelt next to that small headstone engraved with flowers and a Celtic knot. "This was my soulmate," he said, looking up at Diana. "She was from a Celtic tribe in what you know as Wales, and she was the most beautiful mortal I'd ever laid eyes upon." He laid a hand on top of the stone and sighed, his eyes glazed over with memories.

"How did you meet her?" she asked softly.

"I came to Midgard on a whim of youth. I decided to do some hunting, and in chasing a wild boar I came upon a young woman and her sheep. She wasn't impressed by my title or my weapons, and it was love at first sight. I asked permission from her father, a wise man named Myrrdin, to marry her, and brought her to Asgard. She was the most beloved princess of the realm, and partook of Idun's apple to live as one of the Asgardians, perfect and immortal."

"What happened?" Diana asked.

Thor sighed heavily. "She was called home to take part in a battle for her country. How could I not let her go? But in saving the king of that country, she gave up her own good health. She grew old as a Midgardian would, and died in her sleep at the age of ninety-seven." He sighed. "But I could not blame anyone for her death. She helped the king to rise again and he finished off the evil in his lands. And she loved me, and I her, till her last breath." He touched the faded soul mark on his forearm absently. "It took me many years to get over her death."

"I'm sorry for your loss," Diana said quietly, reaching out to hug him.

He pressed a kiss to Diana's hair in thanks.

They left the cemetery soon afterwards, and returned to the palace. In those few hours, the great Hall had been rebuilt and the throne taken away for repairs.

"I love Asgardian tech," Diana said appreciatively.

Thor grinned.

That night, Diana woke from a sound sleep, her heart hammering. Her cheeks were wet with tears and she wiped at them in confusion. "What?" she asked.

Vision entered the room. "Diana? Are you all right?"

"I...don't know?"

"You were fine one minute ago," he said, concerned. "Was it a bad dream?"

"I don't remember," she said, confused, and then realized. "Thor. He's the one with the nightmare." She got out of bed and pulled on a robe. "Stay here, Vis? I'll be back."

"Are you sure?" he asked, hovering concernedly.

She nodded. "I'm sure." She slipped out of the quarters and padded down the hall to the other end of the family wing. She exchanged nods with the standing guard, and entered Thor's room with a soft knock on the door. "Thor?"

He was asleep, moaning and talking in his sleep.

She heard Odin's name, Frigga's, Marian's, other people who she assumed he'd lost. "Thor," she said softly, reaching out to shake his shoulder.

He turned away from her touch, still caught in his nightmare.

She smoothed his hair. "Thor, Thor, come on, wake up. It's just a dream." She perched on the edge of the bed and kept up a string of soothing words until he calmed down, and finally, he woke up.

He blinked at her, blearily. "Diana? What's wrong?"

"I'd like to ask you that," she replied, reaching up to wipe his tears away. "What was your nightmare about?"

"Not a nightmare," he said, sitting up and leaning against the headboard with a sigh. "Just, memories." He rested his head on his knees. "I am the only survivor of my family, besides Loki, but he is young and does not remember. Even with you, Diana, you are still mortal, and you have the good captain. I..." he sighed and turned away.

She bit her lip. "For what's it worth, as long as we last, you have us, Thor,' she said. "You have me, until I die."

"And then I will be completely alone," he said.

She remembered how Sif had stood with him through the battle, how she'd stood with them at the pouring out of Odin's ashes. "Not as alone as you might think," she said.

He looked up at her, confused. "What?"

"Have you ever given any thought to getting married again, Thor?"

He looked bewildered by this change of subject. "The throne will need an heir, yes, but..."

She smiled. "You'll get it, eventually."

He raised an eyebrow. "I hope I do. It is too late at night to be this cryptic, Diana."

She patted his arm. "Sorry. So, do you want to go back to bed, or are you going to stay up?"

He frowned at his pillow. "I do not desire sleep any longer." He got up. "Come, I'll walk you back to your quarters."

He walked her back, and ended up having a very long, complicated discussion with Vision about Asgardian family trees, and how technically Vision was part of the family as well since it was Thor's power of lightning that finished the process of creating his body. Diana fell asleep sometime around there, and slept peacefully snuggled in between her two soulmates.

The next day when Sif offered to walk Thor through the reconstruction, his eyes lit up with realization, and he glanced over at Diana. She smiled at him encouragingly. He turned back to his long-time friend and sister in arms with a new perspective.

Loki watched the exchange with a scowl. "I do not like her,' he said.

"Why not?" Diana sked, amused.

"She's too bossy."

Diana laughed. "Well don't you think your brother needs more bossing around?"

Loki smiled. "I suppose."

 **A/N: I don't know when the next chapter will be done, hopefully next week Diana will be back on Earth. Thanks for reading!**


	34. Chapter 34

**A/N: Finally wifi! Yes! Rejoice!**

Diana returned to Midgard after another two days, once she was sure that Thor would be okay without her. "You have to come visit," she admonished him. "Give yourself half a day once in a while and come visit me, okay?"

"I promise," Thor said. "But you must also come visit me."

"I promise." She gave him a final hug and a kiss on the cheek. "All right. If you need anything, anything at all, just let me know, okay?"

He kissed her forehead. "Thank you, Diana, for everything."

She moved to the center of the Bifrost, and Heimdall, newly healed, triggered the wormhole.

Diana watched the universe flicker before her eyes, and then she was standing in the grass, at the edges of the Asgardian embassy. She sighed in happiness, breathing in the fresh wet smell of grass before she headed for the compound. She got sixty feet, and was suddenly scooped up by two very familiar muscular arms. "Steve," she said happily, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I missed you," he breathed, holding her close and pressing a kiss to her neck. "I missed you a lot."

She scratched her fingers through the short hairs on the back of his neck and kissed his cheek. "I missed you too. I love you," she whispered.

"I love you too." He cupped her jaw and lowered his lips to hers, almost literally taking her breath away.

When they finally drew back, equally flushed, Diana suddenly realized they were almost in the exact middle of the Asgardian camp and there were people pointedly not looking at them. She blushed scarlet and pulled away from him slightly. "Ahem. There's people, not staring."

"Oh." Steve wrapped an arm around her waist. "Let's go inside, then."

They walked inside arm in arm, and were met by the entire Avengers team. "Welcome home, doll," Bucky said, reaching over to kiss her cheek. "We've missed you around here."

"Steve, mainly," Natasha added, smirking at their fearless leader.

"Where's Vis?" Wanda asked.

"Still on Asgard. He's found a niche vaporizing rubble with the Mind stone. He'll be back Friday."

Maria Hill entered the common floor. "Diana, good, you're back. You've got to sign off on this UN ambassador thing before Tony can authorize it."

Diana's eyes widened. "What UN ambassador thing?" She took the tablet Maria was holding. "Oh my goodness, I've only been gone like five days, what is all this?"

"It's been a crazy week," Maria admitted. For her to even admit that was a huge concession.

Diana's eyes widened even more. "I don't even want to go in my office right now." She looked at Steve. "Let's go out to dinner."

"Whatever you want, doll." He kissed her cheek. "Italian?"

"Pasta. Brilliant."

"Wait, wait, UN!" Maria begged, blocking their escape route.

Diana quickly read through the mission brief and signed off on it. "Just make sure they announce their presence as soon as they cross the border," she reminded Maria.

"Yes boss."

The Rogers' had dinner at a small restaurant where the staff provided absolute discretion for the Avengers, whose appetites provided the best business from the area. The waiters were very discreet, and Diana and Steve were able to catch up on the last week's adventures without danger of eavesdroppers.

"So Loki's really four years old," Steve said.

"Yep. And he's really cute. He likes science."

"Hm. Well, I suppose stranger things have happened."

"Yeah." She grinned. "You were an exceptionally adorable four-year-old, if you'll remember."

He covered his face with his hand.

"What?" She teased. "You don't wike being reminded, Steeb?"

He groaned. "C'mon, doll."

She laughed and leaned forward to kiss him. "All right, all right, I won't let Tony post pictures of baby Avengers on social media. He's been aching to do so for months, but I guess I can make it a rule."

"Definitely," Steve said firmly.

* * *

The next day, Diana entered her office, and when she saw the piles of work waiting at her desk, she almost turned about-face and bolted straight out of the room. She did turn around to go possibly complain to someone, most likely Tasha, but she bumped nose-first into Rhodey. "Ow."

"Ouch, sorry," Rhodey said, holding her arm to keep her from stumbling. "You okay?"

Diana rubbed her nose. "I don't understand why everybody around here's got such solid chests. It's very painful. Crash into anybody round here and you get a bruised sinus..."

He laughed. "Well, thank you for the compliment."

She grinned at him. "What can I do for you, Colonel?"

"I was wondering if you had the go-ahead for the possible mission in Afghanistan."

She sighed and went into her office. "What's the file number?" she asked, turning on her computer and wincing as the emails started piling up.

"Uh, 534-AF_339."

"Okay..." She looked it over. "This looks more like a SHIELD mission, Col."

"I know, but," he shifted uneasily, "some of my old unit are there, and I just wanted to make sure-" He shrugged.

She nodded. "All right, we can do that. War Machine, and, would you like Natasha?"

"Yeah, yeah that'd be good."

"All right. I'm putting a unit on standby in case you need backup." She signed off on the mission and sent the standard emails to the leaders of the country that the Avengers would be running a mission and therefore you must cooperate. She handed him the confirmation chip. "Anything else?"

"No, that was it, really. We'll ship out at 1200 hours."

"All right. Be safe."

"Thank you, Diana."

She sat at her desk and stared at the piles of paperwork. "Yeah, no problem," she said weakly.

Rhodey paused in the doorway to turn and look at her. "You kno, you really should think about getting an assistant."

"An assistant?" Diana echoed.

"Yeah. It'd make it easier for you to get to the important things, and your assistant could deal with the everyday things." He gave her a knowing grin. "You would get more sleep, and time with Steve."

She frowned. "Did he put you up to this?"

"Nope. Just me, telling you that the more active we get, the more drowned in work you'll be."

She sighed and nodded. "Thanks, Rhodey."

"No problem." Rhodey left her office, turned the corner, and high-fived Bucky and Tony. "She took the idea."

"Awesome." Tony patted his best friend on the back. "I'll go make up a list of assistant candidates for her to check out."

"Gonna put Ms. Potts on the list?" Bucky asked, smirking.

"Not on your life, Barnes."

* * *

Diana had her own idea about assistants, and as soon as she'd gone through the mission reports, she headed down to the city with the SHIELD shuttle. She entered Stark Tower, got in the private elevator, and looked up. "To Dr. Foster's lab, please, FRIDAY."

"Of course, Mrs. Rogers." The elevator began to move.

Dr. Foster's lab was bustling with assistants and interns and the doctor herself. "Diana," Jane said, looking up from a computer. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Diana said pleasantly. "How's the universe?"

"Fine, I think."

"Cool. Hey, can I talk to Darcy?"

"Yeah, she's..." Jane gestured vaguely. "She's somewhere around here."

"Thanks." Diana ventured further into the labs and found Darcy sitting on a stool, organizing Pop-Tart boxes on a counter. "You look busy," she commented.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. Very busy." Darcy laughed self-consciously. "Now that Jane's got all her proper science interns and under-grads, I've been relegated to snack maker and organizer. Not that I'm complaining at all."

"But if you could, you'd pick a more challenging job?" Diana asked.

"Yeah. Something to do with my actual degree."

"In Political Science, right?"

"Yep." Darcy finished her Pop-Tart box pyramid and turned to face Diana. "Why the twenty questions?"

"I need an assistant," Diana said bluntly. "I would like it to be you."

Darcy's jaw dropped. "Oh."

"Yeah." She gave her a friendly grin. "Would Jane be mad if I poached you away from her?"

"Honestly I don't think she'd notice till the Pop-Tarts ran out," Darcy admitted, grinning. "But I think I'd better tell her anyway."

"All right."

Jane took the news with pride in her former intern, and Darcy packed up her messenger bag right away to follow Diana up to the office.

"So, I'm not exactly equipped for a secretary right now," Diana said, gesturing to the single desk, "but whatever you want, we can get it."

"Awesome. Can I get one of those giant exercise balls to sit on?"

Diana grinned. "Sounds like a plan. FRIDAY?"

* * *

When Tony came in two hours later with a list of qualified people, he was surprised to find two desks instead of one, two separate computer screen sets, a giant exercise ball rolling in the corner of the room, and Diana and Darcy playing phone tag on opposite ends of the sofa. As in, they were on two separate phones, and periodically tossing them back and forth to each other.

Darcy: "Diana Lawrence's office. Yes, Mr. President." She tossed it to Diana.

"Please give all the details to my assistant, Mr. Prime Minister. Thank you." Diana tossed the other phone to Darcy. "Mr. President, what can I do for you, sir? Uh-huh? Mole in the Secret Service? We can do that. Yes, sir. I'll give it to Captain America personally, sir." She hung up and looked at Tony. "My favorite inventor. What can I do for you?"

Tony gaped. "What are you guys doing?"

Darcy was finishing up taking notes on a tablet. "Yes sir. Mm-hm. Thank you for your time." She hung up. "Botswana needs an alien artifact thing cleaned up. Mr. Stark?"

"Forward it to my office," Tony said, waving vaguely. He did a double-take. "Wait, what are you doing up here?"

"She's my assistant, I have an assistant now, assistants are cool," Diana murmured, shuffling through papers. "Darce, where'd I put the budget allocations from the thing-"

"Here," Darcy said, tossing her a holographic interface.

"Oh, digital, right. Thanks. FRIDAY, set up a mission brief for Cap on the mole in the secret service. Mission name Canton Everett Delaware the Third, please."

Tony snickered. "Are you really quoting Doctor Who for official documents?"

"Yep." Diana forwarded the budget allocations, and stood up to give him a hug. "What's up?"

He returned the hug gladly and handed her a list of names. "Well, I was going to give you a list of names to pick an assistant from, but never mind."

She smirked. "FRIDAY been tattling on me again?"

"No, no," Tony said, shuffling his feet. "Rhodey said something before he and Natasha left, so-"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "I sense a conspiracy."

"It was in your own interests," he said, squeezing her hand. "Besides, isn't Darce helping?"

"Tremendously," Diana said, with a smile. "Now, was that all? We've got a week's load of work to get through."

"Yeah, that was it." He gave Darcy a grin. "You've got a taskmaster now, Lewis. Can't slack off or have dance parties with your iPod anymore."

Darcy good-naturedly stuck her tongue out at him.

* * *

The week's backlog was soon caught up with and the two were up to date with everything, and even getting ahead on some evaluations that were coming up. "I should've done this ages ago," Diana said, sighing in satisfaction when she logged off at a reasonable hour from the computer. "A whole evening to enjoy myself. What a concept."

Darcy laughed and slung an arm around her shoulder. "Are you headed back to the compound then?"

"Of course. That's where most of my people are anyway. What about you?"

"I'm going to stay here. Jane and I've got drinks and gossip at eight."

"Nice."

"Yeah." Darcy gave her boss a wave. "See you tomorrow, boss-lady."

"Yep." Diana left the office floors and journeyed up to the penthouse to see if Tony or Pepper was there. She found the CEO sitting on the couch, her eyes red. "Pepper? What's wrong?"

Pepper turned towards her with a slight gasp. "Diana, I didn't hear anyone come up." She dabbed at her eyes with a tissue and forced a smile. "Nothing, nothing. Just, had a bad day."

"Tell a sympathetic soul all about it?" Diana offered, sitting next to Pepper and putting a gentle hand on her arm.

Peppers' eyes filled with tears and she all but threw her arms around Diana, crying into the younger woman's shoulder. "Oh Diana, I don't know what I'm going to do..."

Diana hugged her tightly and rubbed her back, now seriously alarmed. "Pepper, please, tell me what's wrong?" she begged, wondering if Tony was going to burst into the room on account of distress from his romantic soulmate. No Tony appeared, so he must be further away than the Tower. "C'mon, Pep," Diana coaxed, still rubbing her back, "whatever it is, we can handle it. Do you want me to get Tony for you?"

"No!" Pepper sat up hastily, shaking her head. "No, no, don't tell Tony."

Diana nodded. "Okay, but you've gotta calm down before it translates over your soul bond, okay?"

Pepper nodded, took a deep breath, and pulled herself together. A second later her face crumpled and she curled into Diana's side. "I just don't know how he's going to feel about this," she murmured.

Diana looked down at her, suspicions growing. "Pepper?" she asked cautiously, her eyes widening. "Are you..."

"Pregnant," Pepper confirmed miserably. "Six weeks apparently."

Diana's jaw dropped. "Seriously?" she shrieked, and then clapped a hand over her mouth. "Sorry, sorry shh, but, seriously?"

Pepper nodded, curling further into the couch cushions. "I suspected it a few weeks ago and FRIDAY confirmed it for me."

"And you've kept it quiet since then?" Diana asked.

Pepper nodded, sniffing noisily. "I just, didn't want Tony to freak out about it, and he is going to freak out. He hates his dad, doesn't want to be a dad, we don't have time for any of this at all, but I want this baby so much already and I just don't know what we're going to do and-" she buried her face in the couch cushions.

Diana leaned over to wrap her in a huge hug. "No wonder you're freaking out," she said softly, handing Pepper another tissue. "Carrying all that inside you for weeks. Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"No one around here can keep a secret worth a flip," Pepper replied, blowing her nose, "and you and Natasha were busy. I should be able to handle this, I'm a CEO for crying out loud, but-" She shook her head.

"But this is something completely different," Diana said firmly. "It's completely fine to be anxious." She squeezed Pepper's hand. "But believe me, Pep, you're not alone. Okay? I'm here for you. Whatever you need, I'm here."

She nodded. "I don't know how I'm going to tell Tony."

Diana nodded slowly. "Maybe... we should put Tony in the Hulk-out room and then tell him over speaker-phone," she suggested, smiling.

Pepper laughed, which had been Diana's point. "Sounds good," she said.

"Or," Diana continued, "we could take the mature grown-up approach, sit down with a nice glass of water, and tell your romantic soulmate everything, including the fact that you know he's going to eventually pull it together and act like the incredible person he is."

Pepper's eyes filled with tears again. "Or that too," she sighed. She grabbed Diana's hand fiercely. "You'll stay with me?"

"Right here," Diana promised, squeezing her hand. "Where's Tony right now?"

"Sir is currently on his way up from the labs," FRIDAY reported, sounding alarmed. "I have slowed the elevator for his arrival."

"Thanks, FRIDAY," Diana said, standing up. She gathered the used tissues, handed Pepper the box, and went to get three glasses of water with lemon. She gave one to Pepper, took a sip of one herself, and sat down next to the anxious woman, putting a friendly arm around her shoulders. "Okay," she said. "You have a speech prepared or do you want me to tell him?"

Pepper shook her head. "I don't have a speech but I think I'm just going to tell him, like ripping off a band-aid."

"Sounds good."

The elevator arrived and Pepper's face went pale. "Diana."

"it's okay," Diana said softly. "It's fine." I hope, she said mentally.

Tony walked out of the elevator, arguing with FRIDAY. "Don't tell me that it's diagnostics, you just updated a week ago," he retorted. He glanced at the two on the couch and his face lit up. "Hey, my favorite girls," he said, coming over to the couch. He paused, noticed the tissues, the water, and Pepper's red eyes, and hovered cautiously. "What's wrong, Pep? Is this an intervention?" He glanced towards the elevator doors again in contemplation.

Pepper gave him a brief smile. "No, Tony, it's not an intervention."

"Oh, okay, good." He sat down in relief and picked up the water. "No wine?" he asked.

"Nope," Diana said simply.

He frowned in suspicion. "This is an intervention. Isn't it?" His eyes widened. "Don't tell me you threw out my scotch because that one senator-"

"Tony, I'm pregnant," Pepper blurted out suddenly.

Tony choked mid-sip of his water and started to cough, setting the glass down with a crash. "What!" he shouted, still hacking water from his lungs.

Diana stifled a giggle. "Maybe a bit more tact," she suggested to Pepper, who looked too nervous to appreciate the spit-take.

Tony sputtered a bit more and glanced from Pepper to Diana, seeking verification. "Pr-pregnant?" he asked, after another minute of half-started sentences.

Diana nodded.

"And," Tony got stuck there. "Pregnant," he said again. "You're having a baby."

"Yes."

"How-" Tony took a desperate gulp of water. "How many, how much-"

"Six weeks," Pepper replied.

Tony fell back onto the couch, stunned. "Six weeks," he said distantly. "Right after you got back from Tokyo."

"Uh-huh."

"I-" he rubbed a hand over his face and took a deep breath. "Wow. Pregnant. Okay. Um." He seemed okay for a minute, and then his eyes widened. "Wait. I'm going to be a father?"

"Yes Tony," Diana said patiently. "You and Pepper are having a baby, which makes her a mother and you a father. I'm pretty sure that's how it works."

Tony flopped his head back to stare at the ceiling, his head spinning. "A baby," he said, still in shock. "Wow." He looked up at Pepper. "Wait. Pep, why were you crying?"

"I was worried about how you'd react," Pepper admitted.

Tony's eyes widened and his whole manner gentled. He slid over to Pepper's side and embraced her, kissing her forehead lightly. "No, hey, c'mon," he said gently, holding her close, "I'm a little freaked out but I mean, this is going to be the smartest most awesome kid on the planet." He placed a hand on her stomach. "Everything's going to be fine, Pep. I promise. We'll figure it out." Even though his tone was soothing, his eyes were silently panicking in Diana's direction.

Pepper started crying again, happy tears this time.

Diana hadn't noticed Tony's eyes, so she stood up to discretely exit the scene. Tony held out a hand to stop her. "Diana, wait," he said, grabbing her arm desperately. "Don't leave yet."

She sighed and sat back down. "All right, I'm not going anywhere."

"Mrs. Rogers, Captain Rogers is calling," FRIDAY announced.

"Uh..." She stood up and stuck her Bluetooth in her ear. "Accept," she said, walking over to the other side of the room. "Hello, dear."

"How's my favorite person ever?" was Steve's warm reply.

She smiled. "Feeling warm and fuzzy, with a greeting like that."

"Good." He was smiling. "When are you going to be home? I was thinking a picnic by candlelight on the balcony."

Diana smiled. "I would love to," she started, and then glanced back at Pepper and Tony on the couch. "But we're kind of having a problem at the tower and Tony's possibly going to burst into hysterics any moment and I don't know when I'll be able to leave."

Steve's smile dropped. "What kind of problem?" he asked seriously.

"A, uh, life-changing problem. Tony and Pepper are fine, but I think it's time to let them know that everyone knows about their supposedly secret marriage in Malibu a year ago that we supposedly don't know about."

There was a moment of silence on the other phone and then Steve whispered, "Is she-"

"Yep," Diana whispered back.

There was a pause, a sound of cloth covering the phone, and then a "WOOHOO! SAM, YOU OWE ME FIFTY BUCKS!"

"WHAT FOR!" came the indignant reply.

"BECAUSE!" Steve hollered back.

Diana snickered.

"Sorry," Steve said sincerely, back on the phone. "Do they need anything? Is Tony handling it relatively well?"

"More or less," Diana said. "He still looks shell-shocked and Pepper's crying a lot, which is kind of freaking both of us out."

"I'll be there in forty minutes with dinner," Steve said.

Diana smiled softly. "I really, really love you Steve, did you know that?"

"Good," he said, "otherwise the big surprise I'm planning for our second anniversary will be completely wasted."

She snorted. "Troll."

"Love you too," he said fondly, and clicked off.

Diana stuck the Bluetooth back in her pocket and went back to the sofa.

"What'd Captain Spangle-pants say?" Tony asked.

"That it's okay for us to let you know that we know about your marriage," she replied honestly.

Tony choked again on thin air. "What?" he sputtered.

"Please," Diana scoffed, handing him the water to clear his throat, "Vision figured it out as soon as you came back from Malibu after Ultron, after your vacation."

"Why didn't you say anything?" Pepper asked, amazed.

Diana shrugged. "You wanted it secret for a reason, and we didn't want to mess it up for you. So we just, pretended everything was normal and non-Mrs. Stark-ified." She grinned. "So you see, we can keep secrets."

"Who knows?" Tony demanded.

"All the Avengers except Peter, just because he's new. And Coulson knows."

He shook his head. "Wow. Even Rhodey?"

"Yep." She raised an eyebrow. "So why didn't you want anyone to know?"

"Same reason Clint hid his family," Tony said with a sigh. "But, never mind that, we're having a baby!" He leaned back against the sofa, pulling Pepper with him. "What are we going to do?"

"Well you're rich enough to afford one, you're married and in a stable relationship, and you've got plenty of friends to support you," Diana said. "You guys are off to a great start."

"Yeah, sure, it's the everything else that's going to be a problem." Tony started to hyperventilate again, looking panicky.

"You're going to be a great father," Diana assured him. "I'm sure of it."

"How can you be sure?" Tony asked. "My father didn't even-"

"That's no reason for you to be a bad one," Diana interrupted, not letting him start on his favorite rant.

He sighed heavily. "I know. I'm just, terrified, actually. Yeah. That's a good word. Terrified."

Pepper patted his chest. "Join the club, sweetie."

He shook his head fiercely. "Okay. Right. The world's not about me. How do you feel, Pep? Do you need anything? Are you nauseous?" He paled. "Oh no. Am I going to have to stop drinking coffee?"

Pepper laughed. "So far it's not making me nauseous, so you're fine."

"Okay, good. Whew."

Diana smiled. "So, Pepper, tell us how you discovered the surprise."

Pepper smiled faintly. "I walked into a sushi bar and almost threw up from the smell of the fish. And then the week after that... I was late."

"Late for what?" Tony asked.

They both gave him a Look.

"Oh, oh right," he said hastily. "Sorry, my brain is still in shock. Go on."

"So I waited a week, and then went to DC on business, bought three pregnancy tests, did them, panicked when two of them came back positive and one inconclusive, and came back here determined to do...I don't know. But then FRIDAY did a scan on me, and we've been keeping it secret till today."

"So," Diana said, "does your doctor know?"

Pepper shook her head. "I didn't want to go by myself."

Tony squeezed her hand. "We'll set that up right away tomorrow. FRIDAY?"

"Scheduling an appointment," the AI said helpfully. "Tomorrow, 10 AM."

"Good," Tony said. "That's good." He leaned back against the couch. "I'm kind of feeling a little dizzy. Is that normal, for expectant parents?" He started to fan himself. "Is it hot in here?"

Diana and Pepper shared a glance and rolled their eyes. "Dork," Diana said fondly.

"No seriously," Tony insisted, "I think the soulmate bond is giving me sympathy pains. I'm having cramps."

"When was the last time you ate?" Diana interrupted.

His face went blank. "Uhhh...what's today?"

Pepper laughed. "I really hope you're not going to be like this when the baby's born."

Tony went pale again. "Oh." He bolted off the couch. "FRIDAY, start developing strategies for D-Day."

"D-Day?" Diana echoed.

"D for delivery," Tony replied. "FRIDAY! Best routes to the hospital- Pepper, where are you having the baby? Actually scratch that, we gotta find a good doctor first. FRIDAY, make a list!"

The two women watched him pace back and forth and order the AI around, talking frantically and contradicting himself every five seconds.

"I've never seen him like this... he'll talk himself down, right?" Diana asked uncertainly.

"Eventually," Pepper said. She was calm now that Tony had accepted the idea of being a father.

That's when Steve came in, toting takeout bags. He took one look at the situation, and pressed his lips together tightly to keep from laughing. He dropped the bags on the counter and came over to kiss Diana. "Hello, gorgeous."

"Hello, handsome." She reached up to ruffle his hair. "Did you race here, Steve?"

"Maybe." He turned to Pepper and kissed her cheek. "Congratulations, Pepper."

"Thank you Steve." She smiled at him brilliantly.

Tony finally noticed the new arrival. "Steve!" he shouted, rushing over to grab the super soldier by the arms. "Guess what! We're having a baby!"

"Congratulations, Tony."

Tony didn't appear to have heard him. "Here, you're good at strategy, come help me with this. I'm babyproofing the tower and the compound, and we're going to have at least twenty-six contingency plans, so if you could come up with the last few that'd be great-"

Steve grasped the other man's shoulders. "Tony," he said firmly, in his Cap voice. "Stop."

Tony stopped moving.

"Breathe," Steve continued, firm but kind. "You've got nine months to figure everything out, and right now we're going to eat."

"Eat," Tony said vaguely. "Right..."

Steve steered the genius to a seat and handed him a box. "Here." He handed Diana and Pepper their food and sat down next to Diana.

She curled into his side happily. "Today is awesome. I got off work at five thirty, my best friend is having a baby..."

"Awesome," Steve agreed.

Pepper smiled. "Thanks, guys."

"When are you going to tell everyone?" Diana asked.

"After the doctor's tomorrow we'll tell the Avengers," Pepper said. "I was reading up on it, that people don't usually announce it till the end of the first trimester, but with our lives, we've got to be more careful."

Steve nodded. "We'll be extra cautious with you, Pepper, don't worry."

"I'm not too worried." She smiled fondly. "This little guy or girl is going to have a lot o uncles and aunts."

"I will be the favored one, right?" Diana pressed, grinning.

Pepper laughed. "Yes."

"Perfect."

They chatted and planned for the rest of the evening, and then Steve checked his watch. "If we want to get back, we've gotta catch the last shuttle," he murmured in Diana's ear.

She nodded. "I think it's time we headed home." She looked at Pepper. "Are you going to be all right?"

Pepper nodded. "We'll be fine."

"Just fine,' Tony said. "I'm calm now. I think I just needed food."

Diana kissed his cheek. "Congratulations, Tony. You're going to be great."

He hugged her tightly. "You're going to help, right?" he asked quietly.

"Of course." She ruffled his hair. "What are governments and aliens compared to the Stark heir?"

Steve smirked. "Whatever you need, tell us," he told the Starks.

Tony nodded. "Thanks."

Diana and Steve got in the elevator, and Diana leaned comfortably against Steve's chest. "A Stark child, with Pepper's chill," the super-soldier murmured after a moment. "Angels and ministers of grace defend us."

Diana laughed and punched him lightly in the arm. "That's my line."

He kissed her gently. "Whatever you say, dear."

They barely managed to catch the last shuttle to the compound, and on a jet filled with SHIELD agents and Avengers personnel, were unable to talk any more about the new development. But halfway through the flight one of the agents checked their twitter. "Ohmygoodness!" the rather young agent shrieked. "Tony Stark and Pepper Potts finally got married!"

Diana and Steve shared a grin.

By the time they got home, everyone was buzzing with the news of the Stark-Potts alliance finally gone public. Vision was looking incredibly smug about having been the first to know.

Natasha sidled up to Diana. "So," the spy said, "why did they finally break the news?"

Diana smiled up at her soulmate. "Just because," she said, and went back to cuddling Abby. "Who's a good girl?" Diana cooed, rubbing the Golden Retriever's belly.

Abby licked Diana's face enthusiastically, her tail whapping the couch.

Natasha narrowed her eyes at Diana. "You know something."

"I know lots of things," Diana said cheerfully. "I know who's ready for a treat."

Abby sat up straight, barked once, and offered Diana a paw - the ultimate treat-request.

"Good girl," Diana praised, pulling a treat from her pocket and giving it to the dog.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "You're a terrible liar, Diana."

"I haven't said anything!" Diana protested.

"Pepper's pregnant, isn't she?"

Diana groaned and buried her face in Abby's fur. "Uggggghhhh, Natashaaa..."

"I knew it!" Natasha grinned triumphantly. "Clint owes me fifty bucks."

"Don't tell anyone else," Diana warned her. "Pepper and Tony want to announce it tomorrow after their doctor's appointment."

"Okay. I'll just steal it from his wallet."

"Tasha..."

"What?" Natasha asked innocently.

* * *

The next day, the Starks came for dinner at the compound, and announced their pregnancy to the Avengers and a few of the Asgardian councilors who'd joined them for dinner. It was becoming normal to have a giant tent city of Asgardians in the grounds, and there were always guests for dinner.

"May your pregnancy be blessed and your child grow strong and healthy," Lady Vora said, bowing to Pepper.

"Thank you, Lady Vora," Pepper replied, smiling.

They discussed child rearing, and agreed that it really did take a village to raise a child. After dinner, the Asgardians retired to their people, and the Avengers plopped themselves in the living room, their respective pets curling up at their feet.

"So," Rhodey said, "a baby."

"Yep."

"That's going to change a lot of things around here."

"Yep."

They all turned to Diana. "What?" she asked. "I'm not the ultimate authority for this kind of thing."

They all turned to look at Tony. He swallowed hard. "Well, obviously, we're going to be taking leave when the baby's born," he said. "Pep can decide how long she wants to work, and when she wants to go on maternity leave. I'll take at least a couple months off to be with the baby, definitely. And we're accepting name suggestions as of now."

"Nothing weird," Pepper warned them, "and we're not naming him or her after anyone in this room."

"Aw, darn," Rhodey said with a sigh. "And I was so looking forward to a baby Jim."

Diana smirked. "Find yourself a nice girl and you can have one."

Rhodey grimaced. "Nah, that kind you can't give back when it starts crying."

Bruce sighed. "I guess it was time for me to leave, anyway."

They all stared at him, and Diana felt her heart drop. "Bruce?" she asked worriedly. "What are you talking about?"

"I can't be around, babies," he said, grimacing. He shifted awkwardly under everyone's gazes. "It's fine though. I was thinking of going to Malaysia, maybe. They need a lot of help there-"

"You can't be around babies, or you don't trust yourself to be around babies?" Diana asked.

Bruce shook his head. "It's just safer for everyone if I'm not, here."

"But I just got you back," Diana said helplessly, reaching out to grab his arm. "You can't leave, Bruce."

"No, you can't," Pepper said, and Bruce turned to her in surprise. She gave him a smile. "I trust you, Bruce. We both trust you. Who else is going to make Tony see sense when he tries to baby-proof the planet?"

Bruce gave her a crooked little smile. "Are you sure?"

"Positive. Who else is going to show baby Stark how to make luminescent silly putty?"

Bruce relaxed back into the couch, and Diana let go her death grip on his arm. She put her feet in his lap instead. "And what am I supposed to do with these?" he asked teasingly.

"Hold them," Diana said, pouting. "I made the poor decision to wear heels today." She smiled at Natasha. "I don't understand how you can wear heels and take down bad guys at the same time."

"It's her superpower," Bucky chimed in.

Natasha punched him in the arm and smirked. "Yes, yes it is."

Sarge laid his head in her lap and looked up at her adoringly.

"Has mean ole Bucky been ignoring you again?" Natasha cooed, rubbing his head.

Sarge wagged his tail frantically, and shot Bucky a smug look.

"What?" Bucky asked, rolling his eyes.

* * *

Tony eventually calmed down, and life returned to normal, except with the added bonus of expecting a baby. Pietro admitted that he knew how to knit, and at super speed, he knit the Stark baby a pile of blankies and booties and hats and mittens and anything else a baby could possibly need, in a rainbow assortment of colors and yarn, "because," as he explains, "we don't know if it's a boy or a girl and you need to match all their outfits."

A glare from Wanda, and nobody dared tease him about it. Darcy thought it was amazing, and demanded Pietro knit her a beanie. He did, and it earned him another date.

A month later, the news came from Asgard: it was ready. All the Asgardians could return home. Not everything was fixed, of course, but it was enough to support the civilization again.

So the tent city was packed up, the archives retrieved from the vault, and the Bifrost opened long enough to let everyone pass through. Only a few people stayed behind to represent the Asgardian embassy, and they were going to be staying in Washington DC.

Diana and Steve went with the last group to Asgard. "Hopefully this time there won't be a crisis," Steve muttered, as they walked down the long rainbow bridge.

"Now you said that something's going to happen," Diana said with a dramatic sigh. "You've jinxed us, Steve, we're never going to have a nice vacation to another realm."

He smiled at her fondly and leaned over to kiss her forehead. "Well if something does happen you can put all the blame on me."

"I'm holding you to that." She intertwined her fingers with his as they walked, and the Asgardians around them smiled.

Thor and Sif met them with smiles and hugs, and Loki nearly bowled over Volstagg in his enthusiasm to greet Diana. "You came back!" he said, hugging her legs. "It's been weeks!"

"It's been very busy in our realm," Diana explained. "Someone we know is going to have a baby and we've got a lot of responsibilities."

He pouted. "Everybody I know has got too many responsibilities."

"You've got some too, haven't you?"

Loki nodded proudly. "I have to learn how to be the best prince ever. Thor said he wasn't a very good one when he was little because he was too arrogant, but I have to be better."

"So how are you learning to be a good prince?"

Loki showed her his books and his games, and dragged her to the training courtyard where she could meet the children's instructor in weapons and fighting. And of course he showed her the place where he practiced his powers. "I can make snowballs all the time," Loki said, "and sometimes I drop snow into Thor's shirt. Sif thinks it's funny." He lowered his voice. "And look," he whispered.

"What?" she whispered back. Diana watched in amazement as Loki's pale white skin turned a brilliant blue and his eyes went from green to red. "Wow," she said, never having seen his true form. His cheeks looked even chubbier blue.

"I'm not an Asgardian," he whispered, "I'm a Frost Giant. So when I'm big, I'll be really big. But I think I'll stay Thor-sized. It's a good size."

"Yes it is," Diana agreed.

"Do you like me still even though I'm adopted and I'm blue?" Loki asked anxiously.

Diana nodded. "I like you." She pulled him into a hug. His skin was cold, but not so cold to be uncomfortable.

"Good." He nestled into her arms.

Thor and Sif (who were now courting) offered to take Steve and Diana on a horseback ride through the countryside to visit a waterfall, and so the Rogers' stayed the night.

The next morning, Diana woke up curled in her husband's arms, quite warm and content. "G'morning," she mumbled sleepily, resting her head on his T-shirt clad shoulder.

"Good morning," he said, kissing her head. His fingers trailed lazily up and down her bare arm, tracing patterns into her skin. "Sleep well?" He tugged at the strap of her camisole lightly and continued his invisible pattern.

"Mm-hm. You?"

"Mm-hm."

Diana rolled over and stretched lazily, raising her arms above her head to touch the carved headboard.

Steve suddenly gasped in shock. "Diana."

"Hm?" She turned to look at him. "What's wrong?"

"Your arm."

"What?" She twisted her arm to look at it, and froze. "What..."

There, on her arm, was another soul mark, inky black, and in delicate cursive. It read 'Mother?'

"You," Steve started dazedly. "You're not-"

"No," Diana said, shaking her head. "Definitely not." She touched the skin. "I didn't feel it come in at all last night."

Steve touched the mark lightly. "Well whoever it is, we'll welcome them, too."

There was an insistent knock on the door, and Loki suddenly burst into the room. He bounded over to the bed, oblivious to their pajamas, and exclaimed, "Look!" He held up his arm triumphantly, where a black sentence scrawled itself across his arm in English. 'There was a war, and you were caught when the building came down. How do you feel?'

Diana's jaw dropped. "That's what I said to you when we first found you..."

"Did you get one?" Loki asked eagerly, grabbing at her arm. He touched her new soul mark. "You did! It's this one!" He smiled, pleased.

Diana's eyes widened and she shared a glance with Steve, whose face was impassive. "Uh..."

"I'm going to go tell Thor!" Loki declared, and bounded away again.

"Loki, wait!" Diana called, but he was gone. The door closed with a whisper soft 'click.' She fell back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling in shock. "Oh boy."

Steve got out of bed and started to pull his jeans on. "We should probably get dressed. Thor's going to be here in a minute."

"Yeah. Yeah." She got up and pulled on her jeans. "I don't understand how it only appeared now. It should've, he's been four for longer than a month, I don't-" she frowned. "I don't feel anything at all. Steve." She grabbed his arm.

He looked at her, still impassive.

"I don't think it's real," she said. She rubbed at the mark to see if it would come off, or tingle, or do something. She felt nothing. "It's not real."

Steve frowned. "You think he used his powers to create one?"

Diana nodded. "For whatever reason." She rubbed at it, feeling faintly weirded out that this mark appeared without her permission. But she pushed the feelings down. If it wasn't real, it could be removed. She had to focus on that.

His frown deepened and he pulled on his jacket. "I'll go tell Thor."

She grabbed at his arm again. "Steve, hon, wait. Just, wait a second."

He turned to her, his eyes still angry and unreadable.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You're all stiff and Captain America- y, and I don't like it." She rubbed at his chest softly where her soul mark was. "Tell me what's wrong, please?" she begged quietly.

He sighed and frowned. "Loki. I didn't say anything because you liked him so much, but, he's still a trickster and if you get too attached he's going to hurt you. Look at what he's done and he's only a kid. He took something sacred, something real, and turned it into a prank. He made his fake mark look his ours, and it makes me mad." He sighed. "I know it's stupid, but still."

She rose up on her tip toes to kiss him lightly. "I'm upset too, but let's give the four-year-old the benefit of the doubt before we decide anything about it, okay?"

He sighed. "Fine."

There was a knock at the door, and Thor and Loki entered the room. The king had the youngster firmly by the hand. Thor looked apologetic. "I'm sorry for waking you so early but is it true?" he asked.

Diana showed him the mark. "Steve saw it this morning."

"You didn't feel it?"

"No."

Thor turned a disappointed look to Loki. "You know these are sacred things. Why did you recreate a mark and give one to Diana without permission? Playing pranks on people's bodies is not acceptable."

Loki looked sad. "I wasn't pranking," he said, staring at the ground. "I just wanted a soulmate, too. You've got some, Diana's got lots, even the mortals have them. But I don't." He looked up at Diana. "I apologize." He raised his hand and gestured. A little poof of blue swirled around her arm, and the false soulmark disappeared.

"And you won't do it again?" Thor asked.

"No. I promise, Thor."

"Thank you, brother." Thor ruffled Loki's hair.

Diana knelt in front of Loki. "I understand why you wanted one but you know what?"

"What?"

"You can find friends and family just fine without a mark."

"How?"

She smiled. "Well for one, you've got to be nice to people, and apologize when you've done something wrong. So far you're doing very well at that. And second, you've just got to be patient. You're very young, Loki, and you've got a lot of time ahead of you to find people you like to spend time with, okay?"

Loki nodded. "Do you still like me?"

"Yes, I still do." She held out her arms for a hug, and he accepted it gladly. "There. All better?"

"Yes."

"Good." She let him go, ruffled his hair, and stood up. "Can we have breakfast now?"

"Breakfast!" Loki ran out of the room excitedly.

Thor sighed. "Thank you Diana, for your understanding." He gave the Rogers' a brief bow, and left the room.

Diana turned to Steve and held out her hands. "All better?" she asked, smiling softly at him.

He bypassed her hands and enveloped her in a hug. "All better," he murmured. "I'm glad it wasn't just a prank. Now I actually feel sorry for the little guy."

"Everybody deserves a second chance," she reminded him.

"Yeah. I guess I lost sight of that." He kissed her forehead. "Anything happening to you throws all my common sense out the window."

"I appreciate your protectiveness." She kissed him lightly. "I also appreciate your excellent floofy bedhead," she said mischievously.

His eyes widened and he reached up to smooth his hair down. It was perfectly fine.

"Made you look," she taunted, escaping his grip.

He chased after her and she squealed as he snatched her up. "Now you're mine," he said in a mock-villain tone, and bent his head to kiss her.

* * *

 **A/N: Interesting things happen next chapter...**


	35. Chapter 35

**A/N: Oh my goodness you would not believe how busy my life has been. I'm in a state of permanent-tired. To address the concerns of a reviewer: I have no plans of losing my muse for this story. I have the next couple of chapters worked out, plus Infinity Wars, and what happens after that. So, even though they may be slow in coming, I will be continuing the story :)**

 **Here's the latest chapter that I was finally able to finish up and edit. Just a bit of character development here and there; sorry it's so short. Also, ahem, sorry about the end...**

Their return to Midgard heralded the end of any vacations for a while. Things were getting busy on the SHIELD/enhanced people/mission jurisdiction field, and both the Avengers and SHIELD were on missions left, right and center.

"It's that time of the year," Coulson confirmed from darkest Peru on a secure sat link. "Something about the holiday seasons always makes people crazy. I've seen it every year since I was a newbie."

Diana circled the entire last two months of the next year. "I'll remember that for next year. Absolutely no vacations. Except maybe for Scott and Clint."

"Good idea."

The slew of missions ended, and there was peace for a while.

The next day, Diana woke up feeling like someone had run over her with a truck. She groaned and pulled the covers over her head. Abby and Sarge moved from their positions sprawled on the foot of the bed and shuffled up to her, pressing their cold wet noses to her cheek inquisitively.

Diana rubbed both golden heads fondly and let them cuddle up to her. "I hate today," she sighed.

Abby whined in sympathy and rested her head on Diana's lower stomach.

Diana checked the time and reluctantly dragged herself out of bed. She was still training every day with Natasha, Wanda, and the others, but she had no idea how she was going to do anything today.

As soon as Diana walked in, Natasha saw what was wrong and dismissed the other Avengers to the weight room. "Good morning," she told Diana gently.

"Morning," Diana said, accepting the hug from the normally-not-so-cuddly assassin.

"Today," Natasha said, gesturing to the paved path outside, "we're going to take a walk around the park and do some light stretching."

Diana collapsed on the nearby wall. "Oh good. Natasha, have I told you I love you?"

"Not recently," Natasha said, looking amused.

"Natasha, I love you."

"I love you too, _sestrenka_ ," she replied.

They went on a lap around the park, chatting and talking about various things, and then went inside to do some light stretches.

"Feel better?" Natasha asked, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

"Actually yeah. All those endorphins rushing around," she replied. "I'm also starving and want to eat like a gallon of mocha ice cream."

Natasha laughed. "Well you've earned the right to eat whatever you like, Diana. I'm going to go kick Scott's butt into shape, maybe Sam's too."

Diana smirked. "Well you've earned the right to kick whoever's butt you'd like." She gave Natasha a wink and left the gym. She made a beeline for the cafeteria and got herself a cup of coffee that was mostly sugar, pancakes, fruit salad, and a soup bowl of chocolate pudding. "I hate today," she sighed, picking at her chocolate pudding.

Vision approached the table. "Diana?"

"Hey Vis." She gestured to the seat across from her.

He sat down and reached out to take a sip of her coffee. "Isn't this a little more than the usual amount of sugar, Diana?"

"Yep," she said cheerfully. "But it's just for the next couple of days. Then I want fries. Endless fries."

Vision nodded sagely. "Ah. It is that time of the month."

Diana smiled wryly. "Yes, it is."

"I see. Do you need anything?"

"Nope. I'm good." She winced suddenly. "Or you know, a body made of vibranium."

Vision gave her a tiny smile. "If I could recreate one, I would make it for you."

"Oh I know. That's why I love you."

And we love you too," Vision said. He stood up. "I just wanted to see if you were all right."

"Thanks, Vis." She finished her breakfast and stood up as well. "Time to get to work."

As soon as she entered her office, she laid down on the couch in a fetal position and closed her eyes. "FRIDAY," she said, eyes still closed. "Tell Darcy to get me a hot water bottle before she comes in, okay?"

"Yes Mrs. Rogers. And if I may remind you, the Tylenol is in the second drawer of your desk."

Diana opened one eye, glared at the desk, and closed it again. "Too far." She didn't stir till Darcy entered the office, and plopped a hot water bottle directly over her midsection, and then tucked a hot towel over Diana's lower back. And then she pulled out a tiny cold compress and laid it over Diana's forehead.

Diana melted into the couch cushions and sighed in abject relief. "Darcy," she said, "I name you one of my honorary soulmates."

"Who are the others?" Darcy asked, sitting on the desk.

"Uh, Scott and Rhodey and Sam," Diana said, sighing. "And Peter. And Coulson."

"Awesome," Darcy said. "I call platonic with Coulson."

"Good choice," Diana murmured. "He's awesome."

Darcy checked the schedule for the day, puttered around, made Diana voice-sign a few things. "Okay," she said, "why don't you go back to bed? I've got things here, and I can refer important stuff to your tablet."

"No I'm okay."

"Uh-huh." Darcy cleared her throat. "FRIDAY, please tell Captain Rogers to collect his wife, as she is taking a sick day today."

"Cancel," Diana said, sitting up. "I'm going, I'm going."

Darcy smirked. "Yes you are, boss-lady. Shoo."

"I'm shooing," Diana grumbled, leaving. She trudged out of the offices, made it to the apartment, and collapsed on the bed with a sigh. "Uggggghhhhh."

Abby raced in from the living room and jumped on the bed, carefully laying her head on Diana's stomach. "Woof?"

"Yeah. Good idea. FRIDAY, play Pride and Prejudice."

The movie turned on, Diana fell asleep, and the next thing she knew, a soft pair of lips was pressed against her forehead. She looked up to see Steve sitting next to her, looking concerned. "Darcy said you weren't feeling well?" Steve asked.

Diana groaned and closed her eyes. "Oh, you know, the usual curse of the female species."

Steve winced in sympathy. "You need anything, babe?"

"Not unless you've got time to give me a back massage."

"Sure." He gently shoved Abby off the bed, and gently rolled Diana over on her stomach. "Let me get the oil from the bathroom."

She lifted her head. "What seriously? I was joking."

"I wasn't." He carefully eased her shirt off her back and started to rub the lavender oil on her lower back, up to her shoulders.

"You're the best, Steve," Diana sighed, as he carefully worked the tension from her muscles.

"I'm glad you think so."

The massage did a lot to relax her, and she didn't even notice when Steve pressed a final kiss to her cheek and left her to rest.

She took the next day off as well, but the days after that she was back at work. "You know," she commented to Darcy, "there are days we ought to be able to turn into guys."

Darcy smirked. "Amen, sister."

It was a few weeks later that the Starks announced their pregnancy to the world through a carefully edited press release. The world went _nuts_.

And Peter Parker walked into Diana's office the day afterwards, waving a newspaper. "Is it true?" he asked, handing her the newspaper.

"Hi Peter."

"Hi. Is it true?"

"Yes, it is. How's school?"

"Fine, I guess." He sat on the edge of her desk. "How long have you known?"

"Uh, a couple months?"

Peter gave her a pair of beseeching eyes. "Why didn't anyone tell me? I thought I was part of the team."

"Tony didn't tell you?"

"No." He pouted. "Aunt Mae saw it in the newspaper before I did, even."

"I'm sorry Peter, I thought Tony told you." She gave him a teasing grin. "To be fair, he's had a lot of things on his mind."

"Yeah, I guess so."

Diana gestured to the couch and moved to sit on the other end of it. "So what brings you up to the compound?"

Peter shrugged. "Just that mostly. And school's been stressing me out, so," he shrugged again.

"You need help with anything?" Diana asked.

"No, the schoolwork is easy. Well, except the whole literature thing." He gave her a despairing look. "You know anybody who reads Shakespeare?"

She grinned. "You have come to the right place, young spider."

Bucky knocked on the door half an hour later. "Hey, doll, I heard there's a rogue teenager wandering around."

"Oh no you caught me," Peter deadpanned. "Hey Bucky."

"Pete. What are you guys up to? More synthetic plants?"

"Nope. Shakespeare."

Bucky grinned. "That's right up your alley Diana."

Diana smiled and leaned over to ruffle Peter's hair. "Yep. He's going to get an A on this paper for sure."

"Aw, c'mon guys," Peter said, fixing his hair. "Why do you all have to do that?"

Bucky smirked and reached over to ruffle it again.

"You're so mean, Buck," Peter complained.

"You're the baby of the Avengers," Diana explained, grinning fondly. "I don't think anybody can help it."

"I'm not a baby."

"Just wait till you get hit with a de-aging serum," Diana replied.

Peter's jaw dropped. "Has that actually happened? I never heard about it in the news."

Bucky gave an evil grin. "Oh yeah. You want to see pictures?"

 _"Yes_."

Diana grabbed the teenager by the back of his hoodie. "No, sit. Finish the essay first and then Bucky can show you his blackmail stash."

Peter sighed. "Fine."

She helped him to finish the outline for the paper, and sent him on his way to hang out with the guys. After that she discreetly called up Peter and his aunt's financials. If they needed help with anything- but no. Tony had already given the Parkers his full support. She leaned back in her chair with a sigh of relief. She'd hate to neglect any member of the team.

That evening Peter had dinner with everyone, and they sent him home with leftovers and a new upgrade for his suit.

"In the summer he should come up here more often," Steve said later that evening as the couple relaxed on their balcony. "A few days a week for training and working on his internship with SI."

"I'll pitch it to him," Diana agreed. She noticed Bruce walking down one of the paths alone. "I haven't really talked to Bruce lately." She frowned. "How's he doing?"

"He's been holed up with the research department," Steve replied.

"You haven't seen him for training?"

"He hasn't been the Other Guy since Asgard."

"Hm."

The next day Diana took a coffee break and went to find Bruce. According to FRIDAY he was on his tea break, also. She found him sitting on the grass under a tree, leaning against the trunk, eyes closed. Spot was sitting on his lap, purring contentedly.

Diana sat next to Bruce and leaned against the tree trunk as well. She reached out to scratch behind Spot's ear, and the cat gave her a swipe with its sandpaper tongue. She touched Bruce's arm lightly. "Hey Bruce."

He opened his eyes and smiled at her. "Hi."

She nudged his arm with hers. "How have you been? I realize we haven't really talked in a while."

"Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I've been busy."

"What are you working on?" she asked curiously.

He grinned. "Erik Selvig and I are working with Dr. Foster to improve her satellite net to monitor a wider frequency range."

"From Earth?"

"From out there." He pointed to the sky.

Diana stared up at the blue, blue sky. "Are we expecting another realm to disappear?" she asked. "Because it would be nice to be notified."

"Not really. Just want to be sure that aliens don't sneak up on us without warning."

"Oh okay. That's cool."

"Yeah."

She gave him a sideways glance. "For someone who's doing his life's work, you don't sound very enthusiastic." She leaned her head against his shoulder. "What's bothering you?"

Bruce sighed. "The Other Guy."

"What about him?"

He sighed again. "I don't know. It's weird. He's not, there."

She sat up straight, alarmed. "What do you mean he's not there? Has he gone away?"

"No," he said, "I mean, he's still there, but he's usually right _here_." He pressed his fingers against his temples. "But since that whole deal in Ragnarok, it's changed. He's more calm, more subdued in my brain. I don't have to consciously repress his reactions to things."

"And that's a bad thing?" she asked cautiously.

"Not really, no." He sighed. "It's just weird."

"Embrace the weirdness," she replied, hugging him. "That means you and the Other Guy are no longer fighting. That's actually really great."

"Yeah it is." He gave her a faint smile.

"So does that mean when you do transition it won't be as painful?" she asked.

He frowned. "I don't know," he said.

"We should test it," Diana suggested cheerfully. "And then we should have a chat."

He stared at her, incredulous. "You want to have a chat. With the Other Guy. Diana, he could squash you, are you crazy?'

She gave him an unimpressed look. "Not certifiably, yet. But he wouldn't, and you know it, Bruce." She sat up. "Seriously though, we should test it. I've never actually talked to the Big Guy outside the heat of the battle and I'm curious."

Bruce sighed. The others were going to kill him for even suggesting it, but the other part of his mind that was the Hulk wanted to do it. "If the others agree," he finally said, "and only if it's completely safe."

The others all thought it was fine idea to let the Hulk out so he could get some social and team training in, and so they blocked off one of the fields, suited, and Bruce willingly let go.

The Hulk looked down at the assorted puny humans scattered around the grass and immediately picked his soulmate from the crowd. She was smiling up at him pleasantly. "Soul," he rumbled, reaching out to touch her hair.

"Hey Big Guy," she said, reaching up to pat his hand. "How's life?"

He shrugged. "Good. Peaceful." He sat down on the ground, his legs crisscross, and was pleased when Diana copied him, leaning against his warm leg. "Banner sleeping. Finally." He huffed, annoyed. "Puny human never sleeps."

She frowned sympathetically. "He works a lot, huh?"

"Too much," Hulk agreed. "Not enough smash."

"The realm of Asgard wasn't enough for you?" Diana asked, smirking.

Hulk returned the grin. "No."

She laughed and leaned against his side. "I'm glad we can have a chance to talk."

The great green giant suddenly looked suddenly sad. "Hulk sorry."

"For what?"

"For leaving soul."

"After Ultron?" Diana clarified.

"Yes. Made Hulk sad. Angry."

She pressed a kiss to his palm. "But you're here now, big guy. Let's focus on that, okay?"

"Okay." He glanced over at the Avengers who were huddled just out of earshot. They were failing to look casual and instead looked terribly nervous. He snorted. "Team think Hulk smash soul."

Diana grinned. "Should we give them something to do?"

Hulk grinned and subtly held out a hand.

Before any of the Avengers could blink, the Hulk had picked up Diana like a doll and lit out for the trees like a bullet. "First to find us wins!" Diana hollered gleefully. They disappeared into the trees a second later.

"What-" Bucky asked, exchanging a stunned glance with the others.

Sam suddenly started sprinting for the trees.

Everyone took off a second later at his heels.

For such a large creature the Hulk was actually quite stealthy, and he and Diana evaded "capture" for almost thirty minutes. Pietro was the first to find them, and they convinced him to hide with them. From there it turned into a game of Sardines, and every subsequent Avenger who found them would hide in the nearest branch. The last to find them was actually Tony, having arrived to hang out with the team and being informed by Hill they were all outside.

He stared up at the tree holding all of the Avengers with a bewildered expression. "What are you all even-you know what? never mind." He contemplated the skies. "You know, one strike of lightning and we'd lose our entire superhero force in one go."

"Not Hulk," Hulk boasted.

Tony smiled fondly. "No, not you, buddy. What are we doing anyway?"

They spent the rest of the day in actual training exercises and then finished the day with paintball. All the paint was bio-degradable, much to the groundskeeper's relief.

The winner was actually Scott, who stayed ant-size except when he was shooting at his targets. As prize he got to pick team dinner for the next week.

Hulk finally got tired and put a fingertip on Diana's head. "Time for Banner," he said. "Hulk go now."

She climbed onto a chair to kiss his cheek. "All right. I hope we get to chat later."

He gave her a smile, and with a sigh he turned into Bruce. The scientist sat up slowly, supported by Steve, and blinked. "huh."

"What's wrong?" Steve asked.

"Nothing. I don't feel too sore, and my memory... I can actually remember what happened. That's new." He stretched, and cracked his whole spine in the process. "Yeah, okay, a little sore." He smiled at Diana. "Thank you."

She touched his arm where the soul mark resided. "That's what soulmates are for," she replied, and kissed his cheek. "Now go to bed. He told us you haven't been sleeping enough."

Bruce's jaw dropped. "He did?"

Tony laughed gleefully. "The Hulk is a snitch! Ha!"

That evening, Diana's cell phone started buzzing. She was with Steve and Bucky, deciding where the team was going to go for endurance training. "Hold on a sec, guys," Diana said, interrupting their discussion of Mexico vs. the Alps. She answered her phone with a smile. "Whatever you pick, I'm staying in a resort. Hi mom."

" _Hi Mrs. L!"_ Bucky hollered cheerfully, dodging Steve's punch nimbly.

Diana waved them away from her. "Bucky says hi," she reported.

Mrs. Lawrence didn't even laugh. "I heard. Where's your husband, dear?"

"Here, ma'am," Steve said, putting an arm around Diana to draw her close while he spoke into the phone.

"Steve dear, why can't you convince your wife to come visit her poor old mother? I haven't seen you in weeks. "

They shared a glance. She came up to visit them every second weekend of every month. They'd just seen her three days ago. "Everything okay mom?" Diana asked cautiously.

"Oh yes of course. I was just wondering when you were going to come and visit. You know your father is coming home this evening and you should be here to greet him."

Diana's grip on the phone tightened, and she felt Steve's grip on her waist tighten before he returned to his normal strength. "Mom?" she asked quietly. "Is someone there?"

"Oh yes dear. Hot cocoa and cuddles all around."

Hot cocoa was only for scary movies. Diana's heart dropped into her feet. "Is it a trap?"

"Probably. You know how he is. Got all kinds of gifts from Paris last time, didn't he?"

"Yes he did," Diana said, acknowledging her mom's clue. "Steve and I will be there soon, okay?"

"Oh but if you're busy that's fine," her mom said, and drew in a breath.

"No," Diana said firmly. "We'll be there. It'll be nice to see what you've done to the place since last time."

"Of course dear," Mrs. L said, sounding resigned. "I'll be waiting." The call disconnected, and the dial tone sounded ominous.

Diana dropped her phone on the table and turned to Steve and Bucky, her heart hammering. "What do we do?" she asked.

"You, nothing," Steve said determinedly. " _We_ are going to suit up and surround the house, and get your mom out of there." He and Bucky headed for the control room. "Avengers assemble. Hill, conference room."

Diana shook her head. "I want to go."

"No," Bucky said. "We're not letting you get kidnapped."

War Machine volunteered to fly out to Mrs. Lawrence's house in his new Stealth suit, and sent back livestream video to the Avengers facility. He was there within ten minutes and as soon as the feed popped up, Steve and the others began strategizing.

There were ten men in the house besides Mrs. L, and the kidnappers had taken control of the security system personally installed by Tony Stark. That meant either they had former SHIELD operatives among them, or HYDRA. Either one was bad, and Steve's shoulders tensed upon that thought.

"Can you tap into the security system without them noticing?" Steve asked Natasha.

She nodded, and within seconds, all the electronics in the house were acting as microphones. The men were talking amongst themselves in French. FRIDAY helpfully put on subtitles for those that couldn't understand it.

"If the target brings the super soldier we're in trouble," one of the men said darkly. "I don't think we would be able to take him."

"Then we kill him."

"And lose out on the ransom money?"

The first speaker grabbed the second by the throat. "All we need is the target's signature on the terms. We don't need to add complications to the plan by ransoming. Better to kill her and the super soldier as soon as we have what we need. And then burn the house. A tragic accident, brought about by SI's own security system." He scoffed.

Diana had gone pale by the end of the conversation, and she buried her face in her hands.

The others had gone silent in their rage, and Steve reached out to turn off the feed with a quick, angry motion, accidentally tearing the corner of the console with his strength. He didn't apologize, and no one mentioned it.

"Full frontal attack, blast them out of existence," Bucky volunteered, enraged on behalf of his soulmates.

"No."

"Sniper them all at once, quick and easy," Bucky said.

"We need them alive, it sounds like there's a bigger picture at play," Natasha retorted.

"All except the leader," Bucky amended.

"What about Mrs. L?" Pietro asked worriedly. He and Wanda enjoyed her mothering the most out of all of them.

"I will go, disguised as Diana," Wanda volunteered. "Steve and I can enter the house, go to Mrs. L, and protect her while the rest of you make your moves."

Steve nodded. "I like that plan. Good thinking, Wanda. Vision, Scott, Sam, you'll stay here with Diana. The rest of us will go."

Wanda looked at Diana. "I will need to borrow your essence to mirror your image," she said, holding out both hands. "To make them think I am you."

Diana put her hands in Wanda's, fully trusting her soulmate's capabilities. She closed her eyes as red energy surged between them, and when she opened them, it was like looking in a mirror. "Whoa."

Wanda smiled slightly, and it was strange to see that smirk on her own face. "What do you think?"

"A perfect me," Diana assured her. She raised her hand and realized there was still a reddish glow coming from her skin. "Um."

"It will dissipate as soon as the disguise is gone," Wanda assured her. "I think. It's harmless anyway. Just don't shuffle your feet or you'll zap yourself."

"All right."

The others filed out, and Steve gave Diana a hug and a gentle kiss on the forehead. "We'll be back with your mom in no time," he assured her.

"Stay safe," Diana replied, cupping his cheeks with her hands.

He pressed a light kiss to her lips, and strode out the door.

She sighed and looked over at her three guardians. Scott was smiling at her goofily.

"What?" she asked.

"You guys are so sweet."

She rolled her eyes fondly. "Scott, you're such a fanboy." She glanced at the video feed of the team leaving, and her stomach began to clench nervously. She paced back and forth across the room for the long twenty minutes it took to get to her mother's house. There was no light chatter from the comms, everyone too focused on the mission, and for their sake, she tried to calm her nerves and her worry.

She watched as Wanda and Steve approached the front door. The other Avengers took their positions around the house, both upstairs and down, the security system firmly in Natasha's control. From Rhodey's surveillance feeds, she could see the ten men hiding upstairs, with one in the back room.

Mrs. Lawrence opened the door, and welcomed them in with a tight, fake smile. The door closed behind the three of them and she was suddenly enveloped in a light red bubble. That was the signal.

The feeds burst into action, Avengers crashing through doors and windows and subduing the ten would-be villains in less than a minute. It was quick and brutal and Diana sagged with relief when Wanda got Mrs. Lawrence out of the house and into the quinjet.

Sam wrapped an arm around Diana's shoulders. "Easy as pie," he affirmed, letting her lean against him.

"Easy as pie," Diana echoed, nodding. She let the feeling of relief melt the tension in her shoulders, and then suddenly her skin started to glow bright red. "Um, Sam..."

Sam let go of her quickly, but the glow continued to increase.

"Vision," Diana said, panicked.

Vision looked shocked but he attempted to stay calm as he interpreted the readings coming from her. "Diana, you're phasing out of-"

Everything went black.


	36. Chapter 36

**A/N: End of the cliff-hanger!**

Diana woke up with a groan. The conference room was dark, lit only by the soft glow of the hallway. She checked her hands - no longer glowing. "Seriously?" she asked aloud, climbing to her feet. "You literally just left me here? FRIDAY, status report on the mission? How long have I been out?"

"Intruder alert," FRIDAY announced calmly, and the doors to the conference room slid open to reveal Tony and Vision pointing weapons straight at her.

"Don't move," Tony ordered.

She put her hands up slowly. "Tony, what's going on?" she asked. "Where's Steve? Did you get my mom?"

Tony's shoulders tensed. "Who are you? How did you get into this facility?"

"It's me," she insisted.

"Who are you?" Tony repeated.

Diana's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked weakly.

"Who. Are. You." His face was hard and there was no spark of recognition.

She sighed. "You wouldn't happen to have a soul mark on your forearm would you?" she asked.

He frowned. "What?"

She sighed again. First time travel, now alternate universes? Unless this was an impostor of some sort. But Vision's presence meant that was highly unlikely, since he would _know_. "Okay," she said, letting her hands rest by her sides, "my name is Diana Lawrence Rogers, and I'm from another universe. I think. Since you obviously don't recognize me."

Tony's arm lowered slightly, his curiosity piqued. "Okay. Convince me."

She glanced behind them. The corridor was empty. "Where's everyone else?" she asked. "I only want to do this once because it's kind of extremely complicated."

"It's just us," Tony said, his expression darkening.

Diana's eyes widened. "Where's Steve?"

"Not here. Start talking."

"All right, fine. My name is Diana Rogers, I'm head of Accountability for both SHIELD and the Avengers. I liaise between the two organizations and get permits for work on foreign soil on their behalf. I also have ultimate veto power on projects, missions, and long-term initiatives."

"Why you?" Vision asked, eyeing her critically. "You appear to possess no enhancements or special powers whatsoever."

She pulled off her cardigan to reveal the marks on her shoulders and arms. "Because in my universe we have soulmates, and I'm yours. All of yours."

"So those aren't tattoos," Tony said, his mind obviously going a mile a minute.

"No."

"Fascinating," Vision said. "How many do you have?"

"Ten."

"Who are they?"

She touched her left shoulder lightly. "Steve is my romantic soulmate. We've been married a year and a half. But I'm platonic soulmates with you Vis, Wanda, Pietro, Tasha, Clint, they're platonic with each other, Bruce, Thor, Bucky, and you Tony. You and Pepper are romantic soulmates. Oh, and are you guys having a baby here too? Because that's happening. We're all very excited. Planning a baby shower soon."

Tony looked like he'd been sucker punched in the gut. "Pepper and I, we're not, together, anymore. Haven't been for a while."

Diana frowned. "I'm sorry Tony."

"Yeah, well, lots of things are different around here."

"I'll say." She took a seat. "Where is everyone, anyway? Mission?"

Vision clasped his hands behind his back. "The Avengers suffered a schism due to the Superhero Registration Act over one year ago. The only ones who signed were Mr. Stark, Colonel Rhodes, King T'Challa, and myself. Ms. Romanoff signed as well but she left when the government demanded Captain Rogers' capture, and therefore invalidated her signature. Peter Parker also refuses to sign, although no one knows of his identity as Spider-man. The rest of the superheroes formerly known as Avengers are now outlawed by the UN and considered dangerous fugitives." The android looked pained.

Diana's jaw dropped in astonishment. "The Superhero Registration Act?" she echoed, almost yelling. "You let that ridiculous stack of paper split you guys up? It's not even worth the paper it's printed on, and I should know because I used to be an editor!" She stood up and started to pace, unable to even contemplate a split in her team. "What about Baron Zemo?" she demanded, turning to Tony. "Did you get him? Or were you all too focused on proving you were right?" She suddenly felt sick. "Oh my goodness. Did you actually _fight each other_?"

Tony and Vision's faces showed her the truth, as well as a crippled Col. Rhodes appearing silently in the doorway, leaning on his braces.

Diana's stomach dropped to the sub-basement. "Seriously? Are they okay? Where are they? You couldn't have captured them, not permanently, did you-" She sat down, suddenly overwhelmed by the implications of an Avengers Civil War. And if she coulnd't get home... "What did you _do_?" she whispered.

"Oh sure, like you could do any better," Tony retorted angrily.

"We did a _lot_ better," Diana said calmly, now angry on everyone's behalf.

"All right," Rhodey said, sitting down across from her. "HOw did you guys deal with it?"

Diana explained briefly what they'd done, concluding with Steve's fake death and arresting the government officials involved. "And now, every time a mission comes up, I either approve it or send it to the appropriate authorities, and infomr the UN where the Avengers are going to be operating."

"And the WInter Soldier?" Tony asked, his face carefully blank.

"Bucky?" she asked, surprised. "He's fine." Her eyes narrowed. "Why?"

"He killed my parents."

Her gaze softened. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Does _your_ Tony know?" Tony spat. "Or are you and Captain Righteous keeping it quiet, too?"

Diana shook her head, remmebering the day _that_ revelation had come up. It had taken a few weeks but everyone had made their peace with it. "We dealt with that a long time ago," she said softly.

Tony folded his arms. "How nice for you."

Diana turned to Vision. "Vis. What happened to Bucky in this timeline?"

"We do not know his current whereabouts," Vision replied. "After Iron Man's final fight with the two super-soldiers, we have seen no trace of him."

"He's in cryo," a new, yet familiar, voice stated firmly.

Diana's head jerked up and she saw the rest of the Avengers (former Avengers?) standing in the doorway, fully suited up and armed.

"Rogers," Tony said cautiously, as he and Vision stood to face the others.

"Stark," Steve replied, equally cautious.

"What are you doing here?"

"Wanda felt an echo of her powers," Steve said. "We needed to know what was going on."

"It was just me," Diana said, nodding at them. "How long have you been listening?"

"Since you woke up, really," Natasha said calmly. She looked at Stark. "Your security's awful by the way."

Diana sighed. The tension in the room was enough to strangle an elephant, and the separation from her soulmates was making her irritable and headache-y. "All right," she decided, standing up, "everybody shut up and siddown."

They all stared at her.

"I said sit," she repeated, giving them her best 'I am the Boss' glare.

Surprisingly, they all sat. Steve and Tony continued to glower at each other cautiously.

"Where's Clint?" Diana asked, noticing the empty spaces.

"With his family," Scott said.

"Peter?"

"School," Rhodey supplied.

"Thor is off world, I know. Bruce?"

"Don't know," Natasha muttered.

"Bucky?" Diana asked.

"Cryo-stasis till we figure out how to wipe his programmed triggers," Steve replied, with a sigh.

"I'm sorry," Diana said sincerely. Without a soulmate bond and absolute trust as a channel, she guessed Wanda wouldn't have been able to help him. She rubbed at the words on her calf with her opposite foot. "Where's Pietro?"

Wanda closed her eyes briefly, and Steve shook his head.

Diana's stomach sank further. "Is he..." She gulped. "Ultron?" It was a quick nod from Sam to confirm, and she bowed her head, fighting off a wave of emotion. "I'm sorry," she said.

Wanda nodded tightly in acknowledgement.

Diana changed the subject. "And Coulson? Please tell me that there's at least one sensible person in this universe?"

"Of course. Director Coulson is in Utah, I think," Tony said, leaning back in his chair.

"So you're not Director of SHIELD?" Diana asked.

"No..."

Diana frowned. "So if you're the 'official' Avengers," she turned to Steve, "What does that make you? The secret Avengers? The unofficial Avengers? Are you all retired, or what?"

Steve gave her a wry grin. "Hardly. We try and keep out of the way-" he shot a glance at Tony, his meaning plain, "but we're there."

"Outlaws, but they stick their noses in anyway," Tony added. "Technically I should arrest you all." he folded his arms. "But since I'm in sweats, I don't think I'm going to even try today."

Diana stared in disbelief around the table. "So you're really divided them?" she asked, shaking her head. "I can't believe it."

"Hey. You know nothing of this universe," Natasha said sharply.

Diana glanced at the Black Widow. "No, but I know _you_. You all... this wasn't even about the SRA, was it?" She glanced around the table, reading their expressions which, to her, had become second nature. "It was guilt," she guessed, and smirked internally when Tony and Steve snapped their gazes to her. "Guilt for losing Bucky and guilt for making Ultron, and neither of you were willing to listen to the other side or work together to find a compromise." She turned on the others. "And the rest of you- the rest of you took sides."

"It was complicated," Tony muttered, glancing at Steve.

Diana shook her head and turned away from them all at the table. "You need to find a way to take me home. Right now. I need to get back to my team."

"All right," Steve said, "tell us what happened. How did you get here?"

Tony glared at him half-heartedly but let him take the lead.

Diana pushed down her annoyance with the entire universe and focused on business. Mission briefing. She related the details of the pseudo-kidnapping of her mother, and how Wanda had used her image to pretend to be her. She described the red glow on her skin, Vision's last words, and then waking up on the floor. "And that's all I know," she said.

"Sorry," Wanda said quietly.

Diana gave her an easy smile. "It's not your fault, Wanda. Literally, not your fault. Too bad it's not time travel. They would've brought me back by now. Let me tell you, the 1940's, harder than they look."

They all stared at her.

"What?" she asked innocently.

"Did you just say time travel?" Tony asked.

"No."

"Yes you did."

"Nope. We're going to forget I said that and move on to inter-dimensional universe hopping. Focus, Tony."

"You're not my boss," he muttered, but he stood up. "Little Red, Vis, and Mr. Lang, come with me. Rhodey, keep an eye on the rest of 'em. FRIDAY, I hope you got readings on our visitor. And tell Peter to get his spidey-butt down here ASAP." He left.

Diana looked uncomfortably at the assorted Avengers, and sat down again. "So," she said, "how's life?"

"Weirder than an hour ago," Rhodey volunteered cheerfully.

She leaned back in her chair and spun around, staring at the ceiling tiles. "How's Asgard, by the way?" she asked, sitting up.

"Fine."

"Good. Good. Rebuilt?"

"They're working on it."

"Hm. How's T'Challa?"

Steve tensed. "He's fine."

"Cool."

"So you're married to Steve," Natasha said suddenly, grinning wickedly. "How's that?"

Diana blushed, but returned the Russian's smirk. "Well, I haven't heard _him_ complain."

Steve's ears turned a dull red and he stared up at the ceiling with a long-suffering expression.

"FRIDAY, is there a Diana Lawrence in this universe?" Natasha asked, still grinning.

"Cancel request," Diana said abruptly. To Natasha she said, "you can find out after I'm gone. Right now we've got other things to worry about."

***A***

Meanwhile, in Diana's home universe...

"What do you mean she's _gone_?" Steve asked, clenching his fist in a supreme effort to stay calm.

"She was here one second and then she was gone," Sam said for the fourth time.

"I believe she phased out of this dimension," Vision said helpfully.

Steve pressed down the rising panic at the thought of his soulmate just being _gone_ , and turned to Tony.

The inventor nodded. "On it." He snagged Vision and Bruce, and the trio left.

Then Steve turned to Wanda.

She looked two seconds away from tears, but she lifted her hands in a helpless gesture. "I don't know what happened," she said tearfully. "I just used her outer image as an illusion for myself. I didn't- it shouldn't have done that. I don't think I did it, Steve. At least, I hope not?" A couple tears slid down her cheeks. "What if she's dead? What if I killed her?"

Steve grabbed her in a comforting hug. "You didn't," he said firmly. "We can all sense through the bond that's it just a separation, not a cancellation. She's not dead, Wanda. And whatever happened, we're going to fix it." He leaned back slightly. "But I need you to focus on finding her. Focus on using your powers to trace her. Can you do that?"

She nodded. "I can do that."

Good." He released her. "Sam's going to help you, okay?"

"Okay."

Steve watched them leave, and turned to face the screen. He hit 'replay', and watched Diana slowly fade out of the conference room. He dropped his head into his hand, heart sick with worry for her.

***A***

Diana dropped her head into her arms, and sighed. She, Rhodey, and Natasha had been comparing universes for the last three hours and her head ached from trying to recall all that information. She closed her eyes, letting herself focus on her soul bonds. They were muted and blank, almost non-existent. She wondered vaguely if Steve was freaking out yet.

"Hey."

She lifted her head to look up at the supersoldier-not-my-Steve that stood there. "Captain," she said formally, sitting up and tugging at her blouse.

"Just Steve," he said, shaking his head. "I'm not Captain America anymore."

"Oh yeah." She raised an eyebrow. "Just, The Soldier. Very imposing."

"Thanks." He eyed her awkwardly, and his gaze focused on the ring on her finger. "Uh. Would you like to get something to eat?"

"Sure." She stood up and walked out towards the cafeteria. "This way, right? I hope everything's still in the same spots."

"Should be, if your Steve is anything like me." He matched her pace. "Are we?"

She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You married him, you have to recognize some differences," he argued.

Diana stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "All right." She waited till he squared off against her, and met his gaze. "Same color eyes," she said, nodding. "Same color hair." She turned his head away slightly. "Same devastating jawline."

He grinned.

She nodded approvingly at his shoulders. "Same Dorito-like shape and waist of a Disney princess."

Steve's whole face turned red. "That's a new one," he said.

She grinned. "That was Clint, after we spent a whole three days doing nothing but binge-watching Disney. He was very proud of that one. Bucky almost peed himself laughing so hard."

Steve smirked. "Sounds like them." Then his grin faded and he looked away, withdrawing into his 'Soldier' persona.

Diana realized, watching him walk for a few moments, that it was different than his

'Cap' persona. The 'Soldier' was harder, colder, more cold steel than warm apple pie. "This world's been cruel to you, Steven dear," she said softly.

He turned to her, startled. "How do you-"

She smiled. "You can't fool a wife, Steve. You're tired. More tired than I've ever seen you."

Steve sighed. "Yes."

"Have you talked to Tony about it?"

Steve scoffed. "I don't know if you noticed but we're not much on speaking terms."

"Oh I noticed. And I think it's disgraceful."

"That's just how it is. And besides, he knows that he can call on us if he ever needs anything."

"What about you, Steve?" Diana pressed gently. "Do you have anyone to call on when you need help?"

Steve shook his head.

"What about Natasha?"

Steve rolled his eyes. "After Banner, she's not into emotional overtures of any kind. And she's got enough problems of her own to deal with, after falling out with Stark herself."

Diana gaped. "Bruce?"

"Yeah, just for a while, during that whole Ultron fiasco."

Diana started to laugh. "Bruce?" She was laughing so hard she felt herself tipping over. "Natasha, and Bruce?" She gasped for breath and wiped her eyes, trying to stifle her giggling. "That's the craziest thing I've ever heard!"

Steve did not look impressed. "Well it happened."

"Is that why Bruce hasn't come back yet?" Diana asked seriously.

"Yeah."

"You need to find him. Our Bruce has done some serious progress with the Hulk, and you could use him in fights."

"All right, we'll keep an eye out for him."

Diana nodded. "What about Sam?"

"For Natasha?"

"No you dork, for you to talk to."

"Oh." Steve shrugged. "He's helped me deal with a lot of things already, I don't want to burden him."

"And Wanda's got enough problems to deal with, poor child," Diana said sympathetically. "Scott's not much of a counselor, and since Bucky's not available... that leaves Tony." She ignored his sigh. "Out of all the Avengers, Steve, you and him have a bromance like no other. And if you guys haven't talked yet since the whole SRA thing, you need to do so."

"Yeah, I know."

"Well then _do_ it."

He huffed. "I will. Later. We still have to get you back to your universe."

Diana frowned. "Thanks for reminding me." She went into the kitchen. It was empty. "Whoa. Where's everyone?" There was usually at least one or two people in the kitchen. Usually one of the guys with the super-metabolisms...

"Only three people live here permanently," Steve reminded her.

"Oh yeah." She poked around for foodstuffs, and found enough to make grilled cheese sandwiches for her, and a block of lasagna that should handle Steve's appetite. While she was at it, she made herself a cup of tea, and poured one for Steve, absently adding the cream and sugar before handing it to him.

He took a sip, and raised his eyebrows. "Just the way I like it."

"I know." She flipped the grilled cheese, ignoring the feeling of his gaze on her shoulder blade. "What?" she finally asked.

"Nothing. Just... never thought I'd get married, settle down." He sighed. "Do you, you know, have kids?"

Diana shook her head. "Nope, not yet. We haven't really had a chance to talk about it though, with our jobs." Diana turned to look at him. "Anyone special in your life?"

"Uh, no."

"Really?" Diana asked, surprised. "Why not?"

Steve cleared his throat. "I'm kind of a fugitive, if you haven't noticed."

"Oh yeah." Diana grabbed a plate. "I still can't believe you guys fought."

"Really? Your Steve and Tony get along that well?"

Diana shook her head ruefully. "They've gotten into cat fights quite a few times, since as you know you're both drama queens of the highest order, but we love you anyway. Just usually when the two of you, them, start arguing, Natasha or Pepper or I separate you and knock some sense into the both of you."

Steve eyed the 5'4" curvy brunette and raised an eyebrow. "Really."

She smirked. "I train with the Black Widow every morning, mister. I could knock half the Avengers on their butts. At least once. Except Vision, of course."

"Of course."

Diana grinned. "The day I knocked you down flat, Natasha and Bucky took me to Italy for gelato in celebration, they were so proud."

Steve scowled at hte mention of his friend. "Is he, in your universe, is he okay?" he asked quietly, poking at the lasagna in front of him.

Diana gave him a small smile and patted his arm reassuringly. "In my unvierse, he's all right. The occasional nightmare, but who doesn't have them? I'm sure that with time, and help, your Bucky will be fine, too."

"Thank you."

She nodded, and applied herself to her sandwich. "You got pickles?" she asked the man in the doorway casually.

Rhodey startled. "Uh, in the fridge, bottom shelf."

"Cool."

"How did you know-" Steve started, not having heard the colonel come in.

"I train with spies," Diana reminded them. She grabbed hte pickles and refilled her tea cup, and then poured another cup for Rhodey. "Two sugars, no milk?" she asked, handing it to him.

"How did you- right." Rhodes sat on the stool next to Steve. "It's so weird. What's the other me like?"

"Honorable, a bit by-the-book, hilarious, and can make the actual best smores in the world," Diana said, grinning at him. Her grin faded slightly as she caught sight of the braces on his ankles. "Um, I don't want to be insensitive, but-"

He followed her gaze, and pulled up his pants-leg slightyl to let her see the exo-skeleton-like brace. "They help me walk. I'm getting my spinal damage repaired, but Dr. Cho doesn't want to take it too fast. In another couple of years, I should be back to a hundred percent, but in the meantime, Tony made these for me. I hate crutches."

"I don't blame you," Diana said sympathetically. She got up to start the coffee machine.

"More caffeine?" Steve asked.

Diana snickered. "No. YOu do not want to see me in a hyper-caffeinated state. The only one that can keep up with me is Darcy on energy drinks. POssibly PIetro." She rummaged till she found the coffee beans and the little grinder. "No, I'm making some for the geniuses in the lab. It's been at least an hour and the one in Tony's lab is probably broken again."

"How could you possibly know that?" Rhodey asked.

"U, DUMM-E," Diana replied abstractedly.

"Ouch, that's harsh," Rhodey said, insulted.

Diana realized her mistake and laughed. "No, I mean the robots. U and DUMM-E, they're fixated on the coffee machine for some reason and keep trying to 'improve' it. Am I wrong?"

Rhodey shook his head, grinning. "You're right. They broke it just yetserday."

Diana nodded smugly. "I know my robots."

"Well, if you do get stuck here, you'll fit right in," Rhodey commented.

Steve turned to glare at him.

Diana froze, her hand halfway to the coffee filter. "I can't stay here," she said firmly. "My soulmates need me, and you're not them. You might look like them, but you're not them. And you've taken care of yourselves just fine so far."

Steve and Rhodey shared a glance. "But just in case," Steve said gently, "you'll need a place."

Diana shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "You don't understand," she said, trying to not let her voice break. "You're not my Steve, you're not my family. We are literally bonded together as soulmates; I _can't_ be separated from them."

"What happens if that bond breaks?" Rhodey asked.

"For them? Probably nothing. It's just one soulbond for each of them, and half of them are enhanced. But for me?" Diana shook her head. "Ten bonds severed at once... I would die." She took a deep breath to compose herself, unable to even think of the possibilitty of losing her soulmates. "So, you really, _really_ need to find a way to take me back."

Steve grabbed her arm gently and turned her to face him. "We will," he said. "I promise."

"So do I," Tony said, from the doorway, where he, Vision, and Peter were standing, blatantly eavesdropping. "YOu'll get home, one way or another."

Diana gave them a grateful smile. "Thank you guys." She stepped out of Steve's grasp which was familiar-yet-strange, and opened the cabinet with the mugs. "So. Coffee."

***A***

"A stress fracture," Bruce announced to his quiet lab. He tapped a snoring Tony on the head. "Hey. Tony."

"Whu- I signed them, I totally did, Pep," Tony mumbled, sitting up hastily. He blinked awake. "What?"

Bruce snickered, and then sobered. "A stress fracture," he repeated, showing Tony the screen. "A little seam in the skin of the universe. That's where Diana vanished into."

"So where did she end up?" Tony asked, his eyes lighting up with the challenge of the new puzzle. "We might have to find Reed and bring him in on this."

Bruce grimaced. "Must we?"

"Nobody knows alternate universes better," Tony reminded him.

"I know, but he just sets my teeth on edge." Bruce shuddered. "He makes the Hulk itch."

Tony nodded absently. "He's too arrogant, I know. It's irritating."

Bruce snorted. "Pot, meet kettle."

Tony pressed a hand to his heart, an offedned look on his face. "Me? Brucie, I am the humblest man on the planet." He smirked when Bruce rolled his eyes. "If it makes you feel better, I'll handle all our dealings with Dr. Richards. FRIDAY, bring up my address book. We need to find out where our four friends have been vacationing for the last few years..."

***A***

"A stress fracture!" Tony shouted triumphantly, from the depths of the lab. "Peter! We need to rig a scanner! FRIDAY, tell the others we got something! Ugh, I wish we had a quantum physicist..."

Steve refrained from mentioning a Dr. Reed Richards, who they'd encountered on a mission a few months ago. The scientist, his wife, her brother, and their friend were in hiding in a country not part of hte UN until the SRA was repealed or amended in some way. He didn't want to give away their secret.

Diana gave him a sharp glance, but pressed her lips together. She had no right to interfere. Not in this universe.

***A***

With Reed's help, Tony and Bruce pinpointed the exact universe that Diana had phased to, and managed to construct a signaling device. "Hopefully, there's another me," Tony said, powering up the device that looked like an overgrown radiator.

"What if there's not?" Bruce asked.

"Well then there should be a you, or a Reed, or a Peter, or even a Hank Pym. And if there's not, well... we'll figure something else out. Don't be so negative, Bruce, wow. Have a little faith."

"Sure Tony," Bruce replied calmly. He knew Tony was just as stressed about finding their soulmate as he was. Except Bruce's anxiety manifested as pessimism and Tony's manifested as pest-isism. Bruce smirked inwardly at his own pun, and he felt the Hulk roll his eyes.

"All righty." As soon as Steve and Natasha entered the room, Tony flipped the switch to 'transmit'. "Tony Stark calling other universe at frequency... whatever this is. Anyone happen to have found a Mrs. Diana Lawrence Rogers floating around?"

Steve gave him a Look that could have killed him dead.

Tony cleared his throat. "I repeat, anybody out there?" He put it on a loop. "Somebody should get it eventually," he muttered. "Maybe SETI is still running in that universe."

***A***

It was the strangest moment of Tony's life, hearing his _own voice_ coming out of a crack in the universe.

"-I repeat, we're looking for a Mrs. Diana Lawrence Rogers, she's about 5'4", got ten tattoos that are half Shakespeare, married, able to type a gazillion words a minute, Steve will you stop hovering! I repeat, we're looking for a Mrs.-"

Tony turned to Vision. "Go get the others."

They all listened to the recording, and Diana grinned when she heard 'Steve will you stop hovering!'. "Those are my people, all right," she said. "How do we send a message back?"

Tony held out a wireless mic. "Have at it."

Diana held up the mic. "Diana Lawrence Rogers calling her home universe. Tony, you'd better have built your doohickey for two way comms."

Rhodey snickered, and adopted a serious expression when Tony turned to glare at him.

Diana waited breathlessly for a reply.

"Oh ye of little faith," came the mocking, perfectly-familiar voice of Tony Stark.

Diana closed her eyes against the hot tears of relief. "Oh thank goodness."

"We're working on a way to get you back to us," Steve put in over the comm, making the Steve Rogers from this universe startle.

"I trust you," Diana said simply. She handed the mic to Tony. "Go forth and do science."

After a long discussion in techno-babble containing a truly disgusting amount of sass, the two Starks, two Parkers, two Visions, and one Banner managed to discover that unless they wanted to literally rip a hole between the two universes, Diana needed to go back the way she came - via Wanda's powers.

"All you have to do is give her a little push," Tony coaxed the reluctant young woman. "A teeny push and your counterpart will catch her on the other side."

"First you lock me up so I won't use my powers, and now you want me to use them?" Wanda asked bitterly.

Tony winced. "Wanda-"

She folded her arms and raised an eyebrow. "If I don't, will you lock me away again, Mr. Stark?"

There was a heavy silence from the other end of the inter-universal comm. Then, Soulmate-Tony asked, "Wait, what's going on over there?"

"Hold on, guys," Diana murmured into the comm. She turned to look at Wanda, putting gentle hands on her arms, breaking her staring contest with Tony. "Listen to me. I trust you. I don't care what's happened in this universe with your powers, I _know_ you. You're the strongest woman in the world, and you can do this."

Wanda's gaze softened. "You truly believe that?"

Diana's reply was instantaneous. "Yes."

"All right." Wanda reached out to put her hands on Diana's shoulders, red energy sparking from her fingertips and winding around Diana's arms, making her glow just as before. Behind her, Vision was murmuring coordinates and frames of reference, helping her locate the stress fracture in spacetime. Then Wanda just, pushed.

Diana felt herself tumbling backwards, and tripped over her own feet. Instead of landing on her butt, she fell into a pair of arms that were glowing red. "Wanda!" she said cheerfully, standing up straight and turning to face her soulmate. "You guys did it!"

Wanda's eyes were focused a million miles away. "She lost him," she said faintly.

"Wanda?" Diana asked gently.

The young woman shook her head, her eyes focusing on her soulmate. "Sorry," she murmured, rubbing at her temple. "The transfer, you brought the other Wanda's afterimage with you. It's gone, now." She smiled brilliantly. "And you're back!" She hugged Diana tightly.

"Yes, thanks to you all," Diana said. "Where's everyone?"

"They wanted to give me some space to concentrate," Wanda explained. "Here they come now."

The rest of the Avengers flooded into the room. Steve was the first to reach his wife, and he swept her up into a hug. "You're making a habit of disappearing," he said, kissing her lightly, "I don't like it."

"Me either," Diana replied, returning the kiss.

"AHEM!" The loud voice made everyone jump. It was Other-Steve, from the comm device Vision was still carrying. "Is she back safe?"

"Yes," Steve replied, his arms around his wife. "Thank you."

"It was our pleasure," Other-Steve said solemnly.

Tony ruffled Diana's hair in welcome, and then addressed the comm device. "I'm going to go ahead and heal the stress fracture from my side. Mr. Stark?"

"On it," Other-Tony replied.

Diana leaned closer to the comm unit. "Guys, thank you. And, please talk to each other."

"We will," Other-Steve and Tony chorused. With that, the comm device went silent.

Natasha elbowed Steve out of the way for her own hug. "Were they fighting?" she inquired of Diana.

Diana shook her head. "It was awful. They were split up as a team, three quarters of them were actual fugitives, and-" She caught sight of Pietro and grabbed him in a fierce hug. "And it was awful," she mumbled into his shoulder, extremely thankful that her universe had turned out far different. "Let's not talk about it anymore."

Pietro patted her back gently and gave the others a curious look. They all shrugged.

***A***

Steve Rogers and Tony Stark looked at each other across the conference table. "So," Steve said. "I think we need to talk."

***A***

Diana went straight to her mother's side, and they reassured each other that they were both perfectly fine. Reluctantly, Diana let her mom out of her sight to go to bed, and returned to the common room, where Tony and Coulson were vid-conferencing about the fate of the French terrorists. They would be turned in to Interpol.

Diana sat down next to Bucky and Natasha with a yawn. The horror of her mother's near-abduction seemed ages ago, and all Diana wanted to do was snuggle with her soulmates. Bucky provided a shoulder to lean on, and Steve sat on her other side, pulling her feet into his lap.

"It's late," Steve said gently, massaging her arches. "Wanna head to bed, doll?"

Diana reluctantly pulled herself to her feet. "I guess." She hugged Bucky and Natasha goodnight, and blew a kiss to the others in the room. "We are such stuff as dreams are made on, and our little life is rounded with a sleep," she announced dramatically, making them all snicker. "Exit, stage left!" She walked out with Steve.

"Which play's that from?" Steve asked.

"The Tempest, Act 4 Scene 1."

"I see."

They both got ready for bed, and Diana sighed happily as Steve's arms wrapped around her, her back to his chest. "How come I'm always the little spoon?" she asked drowsily.

"Because I'm Captain America," he replied teasingly, and pressed a gentle kiss to her jaw. "If we could avoid any extra-universal trips in the future, that'd be great," he murmured. "We were all really worried, doll."

Diana sobered, and brought his strong hand up to her lips for a kiss. "Not as worried as I was," she replied quietly. "I think, if we were ever separated Steve, I might die."

His grip on her tightened, and he buried his face in her hair. "Never," he swore. "Not ever. I don't know what we, I, would do without you."

Diana thought about the broken team in the other universe, and closed her eyes against the sting of tears. "I don't want to sound indispensable, but I think the Avengers will always need someone normal to balance them out, whether it be me or someone else."

"In this universe, only you," Steve said firmly, brushing the hair from her eyes and turning her face to meet his eyes.

"I love you."

"I love you too." He bent his head to kiss her.

Held securely by her husband, she drifted off to sleep.

 **A/N 2: I had to do it. I had to deal with the MCU Civil War somehow, and this was it. Thanks for reading! Next chapter will be filler, or something else. Haven't quite decided what to do yet...**


	37. Chapter 37

**A/N: Finally. Ohmygoodness, RL has been crazy. I've had a headache for two days now...anyhow, the baby shower! Serious fluff warning. I may have developed cavities writing this.**

A couple months passed after Diana's encounter with an alternate timeline, and it was time to plan Pepper's baby shower. The CEO was definitely starting to show now, and they'd confirmed it was a boy. Tony was both terrified and thrilled, and he and Pepper were currently discussing names. None of the Avengers were allowed to give suggestions that were their own names, but they left sticky notes in Tony's office anyways.

Diana made Wanda her second-in-command for party planning. Darcy and Maria Hill viewed babies with abject terror, and Natasha viewed parties of women going 'awwww' with extreme indifference. Wanda though, was ecstatic.

"I love babies," she said again for the third time in an hour.

Diana smiled. "Me too. I'd spend every summer babysitting the kids in my neighborhood. To get them to take naps I'd read Shakespeare aloud. Worked like a charm."

Wanda laughed. "Of course you did." Her smile softened in remembrance. "When I was younger, my mother would take care of one of our neighbor's babies. He was the sweetest thing, and my mother would let me play with him."

Diana gave her a brief hug. "What does your brother think about babies?"

Wanda shook her head. "To him they're worse than puppies."

Diana snickered. Pietro still thought of the dogs as a plague, and would avoid Abby, Sarge, Ivan, and Spot at all costs. He'd fallen asleep on the couch the other day and woken up to find Ivan sitting on his feet - she'd never seen the speedster move so fast. She rolled her eyes fondly and gestured to the holographic screen. "Okay. Color scheme. _Not_ red and gold."

Wanda laughed. "Not red and gold," she agreed.

"Might I suggest pale blue-grey, a midnight blue, and a sage green," Vision said, melting through the wall.

"Vis!" Diana said. "Knocking?"

"The door was open," he replied, pointing to the open door on the other side of the room.

Both women rolled their eyes, and Wanda entered the suggestions into the computer. "I like this," she said. "It's very soothing."

"Exactly what we need," Diana agreed. "Relaxed parents-to-be."

"Thank you Vis," Wanda said, giving the android a soft smile.

Vision smiled back, pleased, and sat down next to Wanda on the couch.

Diana smiled at the pair of them, and wondered who else was going to inevitably pair off in the team. That reminded her to ask Natasha how she and Bucky were doing. "Anyway," she said aloud, "snack menu."

Later that evening, Diana went looking for Natasha. She found the super-spy laying on her bed, Sarge comfortably curled up with his head on her hip, his tail wagging lazily. They were listening to Russian folksongs, both their eyes closed. "What's up, _sestrenka_?" Natasha murmured, eyes still closed, patting the bed.

Diana came to flop down next to her, and reached over her soulmate to scratch the Golden Retriever's ear. "Nothing much," she said, lacing her fingers on her stomach, "I just wanted to see how my favorite soulmate was doing."

Natasha smirked. "You were too busy ogling Steve this morning to chat with me," she corrected.

Diana grinned. "Yep." Her husband had been lifting weights when the two women had been sparring. Diana had come out of that sparring session not a little bruised, too busy admiring her soulmate's physique.

Tasha snorted in amusement, and reached down to scratch Sarge's ear. "I've been trying to think of something to give Pepper at the baby shower," she said after a few moments of content silence. "What do you give a billionaire couple who could literally buy a small country for their own child? Not to mention I don't know anything about children, anyway."

Diana glanced over at her. Tasha's face was poker-perfect equanimity. "You love Cooper, Lila, and Nate," she reminded her. "And you're Cassie's favorite Avenger."

Natasha cracked a smile. "Not Ant-Man?"

"Nope."

"And you've already thought up at least ten pranks to corrupt the Stark baby with, haven't you?"

Natasha's smile widened. "Twelve."

"There you are then." Diana turned her head to smile. "Tasha, you're amazing with kids. I'm sure whatever you get for Pepper and Tony will be perfect."

"What are you and Steve getting for them?" Tasha asked, snuggling into the pillows.

Diana giggled. "I have no idea."

Both women laughed, and Sarge woofed joyfully, moving to lay in between them, exposing his belly.

Diana leaned up on an elbow to rub at his belly. "I think Steve's working on an art project for the baby's room, but he hasn't shown it to me yet. I don't even think he knows I know, so don't say anything."

"Promise," Natasha said.

"And..." Diana paused thoughtfully. "I don't know what I'm going to do. Maybe something with books, or stories."

Natasha smirked. "Of course."

"Of course of course," Diana said. "Books are awesome."

They lay there for a little bit, listening to the cheerful Russian folksongs, and then there was a soft tap on the door. Steve poked his head in. "Evening, Nat."

"Steve."

"Can I have my wife back? I'm in desperate need of cuddles."

Diana gasped dramatically and grabbed onto Sarge. "Not the dreaded cuddles! Sarge, save me!"

Natasha snickered as Steve approached the bed and scooped up his wife into a bridal hold, easily breaking her hold on the dog. Sarge watched lazily and wagged his tail.

"I surrender," Diana said, smiling. "You can put me down now."

Steve kissed his wife's smiling lips. "Nah." And he started to walk out.

"Night Tasha," Diana called, as she was carted away, her arms around Steve's neck.

"Night you two!" Natasha called, rolling her eyes.

The Rogers' got ready for bed, and Steve got his promised cuddles, his arms wrapped around Diana and his nose buried in her hair, their legs tangled together comfortably.

"You distracted me," Diana murmured, her voice muffled by his chest.

"Hm?"

"You distracted me," she repeated, her fingers tangling in his shirt. "I was going to ask her about her and Bucky." She felt Steve grin against her hair. "What?"

"I just talked to Buck about it today."

She drew back to see his face. "What'd he say?"

"He said that neither of them are willing to name their relationship. It's not physical, it's more, shared experiences and an emotional bond," Steve said. "Bucky said he's not ready for a typical dating relationship, and Natasha's never going to press him. So for now, they're just close friends."

"Hm," Diana said, relaxing. "Good to know."

The next week brought the day of the baby shower. The men of the facility were promptly kicked out, ordered to go do something to help Tony prepare for fatherhood, and the women converged on the living room of the Avengers facility.

Mrs. Lawrence brought a chicken pot pie and a peach cobbler. She came early to help Diana, Wanda, and Natasha prepare, and they decorated the living room and kitchen with streamers and balloons in the aforementioned soothing colors. Wanda and Diana had made cookies in the shape of teddy bears, and Natasha made a pot of hot chocolate.

Maria Hill got there precisely on time, bearing ice cream and a blue gift bag, and Jane and Darcy trailed in five minutes later, bearing more balloons and gift bags. The three women were stoically prepared for the evening of mushiness revolving around babies.

Laura, Nate, and Lila came in with Clint, who only stopped long enough to kiss his soulmates on the forehead and pop out again. Lila was named keeper of the gifts, and she solemnly placed them around the coffee table according to size and weight. She was impatient for Pepper to arrive so they could start to open them, but a stack of Stark-ified Legos was enough to distract her.

Helen Cho arrived, carrying cake, and sheepishly admitted that yes, she'd 3D-printed it in her lab. A small swipe of the frosting by Natasha assured the ladies that yes, it was tasty.

Also present were two of Pepper's cousins. They were near her age, and her closest female friends from the non-super world. Their names were Amanda and Susan, and to their credit, only displayed awe for the first five minutes of introductions. They were nice, and excited for their cousin, and everyone remembered to keep their conversations to non-classified subjects.

"Is it weird that we can't have a conversation without mentioning things like espionage or aliens?" Diana murmured to Natasha. "Maria almost mentioned the _thing_ Jane's been working on."

Natasha smirked. "What's weird is that it took you this long to realize we're all mad here," she said, gesturing with her mug of tea to the women in the room. "Even Pepper's cousins are insane, for agreeing to come to a baby shower hosted by a mutant, an assassin, and a woman who might possibly be ruling the world."

"Good point." Diana suddenly gasped. "You used an Alice in Wonderland reference!"

"Yeah?"

"You said you hadn't read it!"

"I didn't. I watched the mini-series with the really cute Hatter."

Diana mock-scowled. "Without me?"

"You were busy with the twins," Natasha said, shrugging. "And Bucky wanted to watch it."

Diana smirked silently. Not give their relationship a name, indeed.

Then Pepper, the guest of honor, arrived, and everyone cheered. She looked surprised to see everyone there, and then faintly teary-eyed with appreciation.

Diana ushered her to a seat, and said, "Okay, first things first, food."

Everyone laughed, and agreed.

They had dinner and polished off the peach cobbler while they watched 'While You Were Sleeping', and then it was time for presents.

"This is more presents than people," Pepper said suspiciously.

"All the guys got you and Tony something," Diana explained.

"Start with this one," Lila said, taking her job very seriously, and handing Pepper the first tiny package. It was from Bruce, and she opened it carefully. There was a pair of hand-knit wristbands with curious little bumps on the inside. "For when little Stark is making you nauseous," the note read. "I got them from a friend in South Korea with three children."

Pepper smiled. "Very useful," she said, putting them in her pocket.

The next box was from Clint. It was a hand-carved baby rattle, the balsa wood soft and smooth as silk. A stylized 'S' was on the front. When she shook it gently, its rattle was quiet and gentle. "It's beautiful," she said, smiling at Laura and Lila.

Lila nodded. "Daddy made one for each of us. Look, this is Nate's." She held up a similar rattle.

Pepper gently put the rattle back in its nest of tissue paper and received the next bag. It was from her cousins, and it was an empty photo album, and a set of 'Daddy's little engineer' onesies. She smiled. "These are perfect. Thank you."

The next box was from Pietro. It was a tiny wool blanket with a hood, and- Pepper smiled. When the hood was up, "it's Iron Man," she said, smiling. "Tony's going to love this."

Wanda smiled. "Pietro knew Tony would want him to have _something_ red and gold."

They all laughed. Just yesterday, Tony's suggestions for a nursery had been firmly vetoed, and he'd sulked for a good hour before getting distracted by mission reports from South America.

Wanda's present was a beautiful set of carved animals from her home country. Each of the animals was wearing little hats or scarves, and the bear was wearing mittens. Pepper thanked her with a hug.

The next was Natasha's present. It was a simple USB drive. She blushed when everyone turned to look at her inquisitively. "It's an album of lullabies," she explained, twisting her fingers in uncharacteristic nervousness. "From Russia. They're all I remember from my mother, and when I was little, and, I wanted to share them with you." She refrained from mentioning she'd recorded herself singing them.

Pepper guessed, though, and her eyes grew shiny with tears. "That means a lot, Natasha, thank you," she said, drawing her friend into a close hug. "And I hope when this little guy's born, you can sing them live."

Natasha smiled. "I wouldn't miss it."

Next was Jane and Darcy's gift, which was a complicated baby monitor system that was fully compatible with FRIDAY, and allowed the users to carry little chips for monitoring. "So you and Tony get live feedback," Jane explained.

Helen Cho's gift was a blanket woven with temperature sensitive strands, so you could tell if the baby was hot or cold depending on the color of the blanket, and the strands would thicken or loosen accordingly.

"You should patent this," Diana told her, admiring the soft, shimmering weave. "Revolutionize the infant care system."

Helen nodded. "I've got an appointment with the patent office on Tuesday."

"No work," Wanda scolded lightly.

Maria's present was a SHIELD-grade bulletproof diaper bag with numerous pockets. "Almost literally indestructible," she promised Pepper. "And it's got a homing beacon in it, if you lose it. And-" she leaned over to press her finger to the inside corner of the lining. The bag immediately stiffened up, turning more into a box, and started to shimmer. "In emergencies it can turn into a baby-sized Hulk-proof room. It's got little force fields to cushion the inside and outside. Your husband helped work out the designs but he didn't know what it was for."

Pepper's jaw dropped. "Wow. Thank you..."

Maria shrugged. "Can't have the smartest baby on the planet in danger."

Sam's gift was babysitting vouchers, printed out on glossy paper and very official looking. There were at least twenty of them, all entitling the bearer of the voucher to 'an evening or an event to themselves.' Pepper merely grinned.

Vision's present was a small stack of one hundred percent soft cotton clothes and a box of diapers that were guaranteed hypoallergenic. Pepper smiled, remembering once that Tony had complained about his own sensitive infant skin.

Rhodey had gotten the little man his first set of sports equipment - a tiny, plush football, equally small soccer ball, baseball, bat, and basketball. And a note confirming that 'Uncle Jim' would teach baby Stark all about sports since his father would teach him all about everything else.

Next, Lila handed Pepper a large box that was labeled 'fragile'. It was from Bucky, and Pepper opened it, curious. He'd always been friendly, but he and Tony were not super close. She smiled when she saw it though. It was a perpetual-motion machine, one where brightly colored balls and wires swooped endlessly through space.

Scott's present was a soft teddy bear, and it came with a card. 'From Cassie and Ant-Man," came the slightly crooked writing. 'This is Magnus, and he protected me when I was a baby from nightmares.' And a heart. Pepper smiled softly, and smoothed the teddy bear's fur neatly out of its button eyes.

Peter's gift was amazing, as a spider's gift ought to be. It was a baby-sling, the tight weave made from his spider-string, and coated in a light blue. The diagrams (Aunt May was modeling with a watermelon for the pictures) showed you could use it multiple ways, and the baby would be perfectly secure.

"That's gonna get a lot of use," Diana said, pleased. "Babies are heavy."

"Tell me about it," Laura said, shifting Nate to her other arm.

Three people offered to carry the dozing baby, and he was shifted off to Auntie Nat's protective hold.

There was a gift from Coulson, which made Pepper laugh so hard she almost cried. It was a well-used set of Supernanny DVD's.

"Two left," Lila said cheerfully. She picked up the smaller box and handed it to Pepper.

It was from Diana. Pepper glanced at her, and she ducked her head, pretending to be preoccupied with her hot chocolate. Pepper opened the box curiously, and stopped to smile. "Books," she said aloud, chuckling. She lifted out the first set, that looked curiously worn. They were all children's classics, nice hardcover editions, and when she opened the front cover of the first one she realized why they looked familiar. _'Diana Lawrence'_ was written in careful print in the corner. A more familiar, ' _with love from_ ,' was added above each name. With love from Diana Lawrence. "These are yours," Pepper said softly. She knew how much Diana treasured her physical copies.

"And now they're this little guy's," Diana said easily. "I want him to know the smell of books and ink, and the swish of a page." She smirked. "And besides, I'm going to read them all to him, eventually, so I'm not missing anything."

Pepper smirked, and lifted the other set of books out. They looked new, and the title wasn't a classic. 'Avengers Assemble'. The author was a D.L. Rogers. Her jaw dropped. "Diana..." She flipped open the first slim book and her eyes fell on the first chapter. "The Prince and the Snake," she read aloud. The doodle underneath was undeniably Thor. "Is this about us?" she asked.

Diana was now scarlet. "Yeah, maybe. I've been working on a series of stories, fairy tales, since Nate was born, and I've been adding to them whenever I can. My old boss helped me get them published, and, these are the first three in the series. There's a story about everyone in each book."

Pepper went back to the front page. It was dedicated to the Avengers and their legacy. And signed in black ink, with a long paragraph that Pepper decided to read later with Tony before she cried. "This is incredible, Diana, thank you," she said softly, admiring the covers. "Steve did the artwork?"

"Yeah."

The others were staring at her. "So you're a published author now?" Natasha asked, smiling proudly.

Diana shrugged. "It's just another form of print," she said, not wanting to take away from Pepper. "There's one more gift. Here Lila, sweetheart."

The last wrapped gift was a canvas. Pepper could tell. She could also tell that it was from Steve. She carefully unwrapped it, and stared in amazement at the beautiful abstract cityscape on the canvas.

Amanda and Susan murmured appreciatively. "This is great," Amanda, the art major, said. "Captain America painted this?"

"So that's what he was working on," Diana mused. It was a large canvas, and it was incredible work. She hadn't seen it before today, just like Steve hadn't seen her books. He'd known she'd wanted the doodles, but he thought they were just for her. She smirked. She was going to have to give him his own set of books.

Pepper tilted her head to study the brush strokes. Then she gasped. "Whoa." She straightened her spine, and then frowned. She tilted her head again, and then the other way. "Look at this," she said, amazed. "Tilt your head."

Everyone crowded behind her to look at the canvas, and FRIDAY snapped a picture of all the women tilting their heads curiously to the right. They all gasped as the Avengers emerged from the abstract city scape. There was Iron Man, a blaze of red and gold in the sky. There was Thor, surrounded by stormy clouds and lightning. The others were all perched on buildings or on the ground in heroic poses, fighting against an unnamed threat. Pepper was there, a gauntlet on her hand, and so was Diana, standing side by side with Captain America in a defensive pose. And if you tilted your head to the left, the scene changed again. The city scape blurred out, and there was everyone posed as if for a family photo, in civvies and wide smiles. Tony had his arms around Pepper, and Pepper was holding a nondescript bundle in blue.

"How'd he do that?" Darcy asked, her eyes wide.

Diana smiled proudly. "He's a genius, that's how."

Natasha nodded. "You'd better insure that piece, Pepper," she said wryly.

Pepper wiped her eyes with a napkin. "Definitely," she said. "This is going on the nursery wall. It's perfect."

Gifts were put away and placed in a corner, and it was time for cake.

The 3D-printed cake was as excellent as promised, and they all tucked in.

Wanda leaned over to talk to Mrs. L. "Did you know?" she asked, nodding to the books that were being passed around, Diana's face red as she protested.

Mrs. Lawrence smiled. "Yes I did. She wanted someone to critique them but she didn't want to ask any of her soulmates or friends to do it, because none of you can keep a secret longer than an hour. And she needed someone to vent to when she was waiting for her letter from the publishers."

Wanda smirked. "That's true." Now she knew why Diana was so stressed lately. Not only the baby shower, but the books.

"I want a copy," Lila pouted, touching the pretty covers of the books.

Diana smiled and hugged the girl. "If you'll check under your pillow, you'll get one," she promised, kissing her forehead. "And you too," she addressed the room at large.

They all grinned.

Pepper smiled again at the pile of gifts, and laid a hand over her baby belly. This child would grow up to be loved and cherished by a large family. She blinked back sudden tears, and silently cursed her pregnancy hormones.

Maria distracted her with a question about two o'clock feedings, and the conversation flowed to 'worst babysitting experiences'. They were all crying from laughing so hard, when the alarms went off. "Intruder alert," FRIDAY announced. "Thirty hostiles have breached the perimeter."

"Seriously!" Darcy yelled crossly at the ceiling, yanking her Taser from her bag and standing up.

Natasha suddenly had a gun and a knife, and Maria was equally armed. Diana pulled a small repulsor stun gun from underneath her chair, and assumed a defensive position. Helen had a gun, and even Jane was armed with a taser. Laura, Nate, Lila, Mrs. L, Pepper, and her cousins were herded into the middle of the living room, and Wanda created a bubble of defensive energy around them.

The lights suddenly went out, and FRIDAY's interfaces went dark. "They blew the power," Maria muttered, guessing that the reason Avengers personnel hadn't come flooding in was that there was a distraction around the other side of the campus. Later she found out that she was right.

Natasha and Maria moved to the stealth positions near the doors, and Natasha gave Diana and Darcy, her pupils, a stern glance that even in half-darkness they could see meant 'don't forget your training.'

The doors to the living room suddenly blew inwards, and ten heavily armed men came marching in. The first four went down thanks to Natasha and Maria, and Diana got the next two as they slipped past their fallen comrades. Darcy scored one, and so did Helen and Jane. The last one was Natasha's. "All unconscious, none dead," Maria announced, checking their bio-readings while the spy kept a lookout.

The power came back on. "-forces apprehended," FRIDAY was saying, distressed.

"We're secure," Natasha said tersely.

"So is the rest of the compound," FRIDAY reported.

The Avengers support agents came flooding in, then, and quickly hauled away the unconscious men. Natasha and Maria left to take charge, and three sturdy ex-SHIELD agents took their place guarding the perimeter.

Wanda carefully let her bubble of protective energy down, and the shaken cousins collapsed into a chair. "How are you not panicking?" Susan demanded of Pepper, who sat down calmly and resumed eating her cake.

"The intruders didn't even get a shot off," Pepper said dismissively.

"Nice shooting, by the way," Darcy told Diana.

"You too." Diana slid the stun gun into her belt, just in case. Her eyes widened as she heard the whine of a quin-jet. "Uh, did we call off the Avengers?" she asked.

Wanda sighed. "No, we did not."

Superheroes in full gear flooded onto the premises, both coldly calm and highly irate, and everyone went to their respective partners. "Where's Nate?" Clint asked, turning a rare shade of pale when he couldn't see him.

Laura calmly opened the grey diaper bag at her feet and showed it to him. Nate was laying on his back, calmly chewing on his foot. "He was perfectly safe," she said.

"Talk about a trial by fire," Jane said, relieved that the toddler was okay.

Steve had gone straight to Diana and wrapped her in his arms. "I can't leave you alone for a minute," he said fiercely, his face buried in her shoulder.

She smoothed his hair gently. "It's fine, Steve. We're all good. The only thing damaged was the door."

He pulled back slightly to inspect her, and then pressed a kiss to her forehead. "Are you sure you're okay?" he asked.

"Fine," she promised. "Now go find Natasha and Hill and get a situation report."

He gave her a wry grin and a lazy salute. "Yes ma'am." He snagged Sam by the collar. "C'mon, sit-rep."

The other Avengers came over to make sure Diana was okay, and Bucky took up a watchful position at her side. "You and Steve," he grumbled. "I'm sticking to both of you like white on rice till you can go one day without something happening to you."

She smiled and took his left arm. "Sounds good to me, Buck." She glanced over at Tony, who had Pepper in his arms, his hand protectively over the baby bump. "All right, folks, time to end this crazy evening," she announced.

They put everything away, stacked the gifts in the quinjet, which Tony and Pepper would be taking back the next day, and the superheroes stayed on guard while the civilians went to guest rooms.

Diana, closely followed by Bucky, headed to the control center to find out why they'd been attacked.

Turned out, it was a contingent of General Ross' men. Their primary mission was still to get intelligence on the Hulk, and they'd heard about the baby shower and planned accordingly: women and children in exchange for the Hulk. Apparently, they hadn't planned on the women and children being completely trained and protected.

"Idiots," Diana scoffed. She wrapped an arm around Steve. "I'm going to make sure everyone's settled and then I'm going to bed."

"All right." He kissed her forehead. "I'll join you in a bit."

She made sure her mom was okay, made sure Tony and Pepper were calm, made sure Pepper's cousins were taken care of (Wanda and Darcy had taken charge), and finally headed to bed. Bucky was still at her shoulder.

He took a seat on the couch in the apartment living room as she headed to the bedroom.

"Are you going to stay there all night, Buck?" she called, changing into pajamas.

"Until Steve gets here," he called back.

"Kay." She finished changing and headed back to the living room for a glass of water. "But as soon as you're done here you need to go look under your pillow."

He frowned. "Why?"

"I left you something."

"What?"

"It's a surprise. Everyone else got one too."

His frown widened. "All right."

She chugged her water, kissed Bucky on the forehead, and went to bed. Well, sat up with an adventure novel until Steve got back, anyway.

He came in at eleven thirty, and looked surprised to see her awake. "I thought you were going to sleep."

"I wanted to see your surprise," she said cheerfully. 'There's a gift under your pillow."

He changed into pajamas, sat on the bed, and lifted the pillow. "What is it?" he asked blankly.

She shoved gently at his shoulder. "Open it, Steve, duh."

He opened it, and stared at the bright covers of the three books for a minute, until it clicked. His eyes lit up. "This is your name," he said, after a second.

She grinned. "Yes, it is."

"These are your books."

"Yes they are."

He opened the first one reverently, and found the inscription. "To my husband, my soulmate, the dearest man in the entire multiverse. I couldn't have done this without you." His eyes turned bright with emotion. "My wife, the published author," he murmured, opening to a random page and skimming the text. "These are stories about us."

"Yes they are. Age-appropriate, of course. Don't want Nate and baby Stark to be traumatized this early." She smirked at him. "You're the illustrator, mister published artist."

He turned back to the front page. Illustrated by S. Rogers. He smiled. "Oh yeah."

"I saw your painting," she added. "It made Pepper cry."

He smiled softly. "Yeah?

"Yeah." She took his hand, kissed his fingers. "You could totally give up your day job."

He smiled. "Maybe." He smiled down at the books and looked back up at her. "So could you."

"Maybe."

He put the books on his bedside table and pulled her close. "So besides the attack of the incompetent minions, how was the baby shower?"

She snickered. "It was great. Everyone got them really personalized gifts. And the cake was good. It came out of a printer."

"A printer?"

"Yeah. Helen brought it."

Steve rolled his eyes. "She's obsessed with her printers."

"Everyone needs an obsession, dear," she chided softly. She kissed his chin. "FRIDAY, lights." The lights turned off and she snuggled into his embrace. "I love you Steve."

"Love you too." He pressed a kiss to her lips.

When she woke up the next morning, Steve was still in bed, in his pajamas, one arm casually behind his head. The other hand held the last of Diana's storybooks. He was reading, a gentle smile on his face. "These are really funny," he commented.

She blushed, still half-asleep, and turned away. "You're not supposed to read them while I'm here," she protested sleepily, feeling her ears burn.

He leaned down to kiss her. "Why not?" he asked, kissing her cheek gently. "You're a good storyteller, and these are sweet." He put the book away and wrapped her in his arms. "Although, you are more interesting than a retelling of mutant turtles..."

She laughed, remembering the mission that had inspired that "fairy tale." "At least they weren't named after Renaissance artists," she reminded him.

 **A/N 2: All right. Next chapter: more Baby Stark, some Asgardians come to visit, and possible alien strike...? These next few chapters things are winding up for the next big Thing...**


	38. Chapter 38

**A/N: Chapter the next. Hi :)**

As Pepper's due date approached, the nurseries in both the Tower and the facility were finished. All the members of the team were happy to paint the walls, arrange the furniture, put up the decorations, stock the cabinets with millions of diapers...

"All right, I'm here, what's up?" Tony demanded, swaggering into the common room at the Tower.

Clint, Diana, Pepper, and surprisingly, a roly-poly Nate were waiting for him on the couch. Diana had the toddler in her lap and she was making faces at him as he giggled.

Tony paused uncertainly. "Is this an intervention?" he asked cautiously.

Pepper rolled her eyes. "Not everything is an intervention. Why, Tony, do you need one?"

"No, no," he said hastily. "What's up?" He sat next to Diana, and cringed away from Nate's slightly slobbery hands.

"That. Right there." Clint pointed at Tony.

"What?" the billionaire asked, bewildered.

"You've got to hold the baby, when it's born, Stark," Clint said patiently. "Parent-child bonds start mainly with touch. And you're going to have to deal with diapers, and spit-up, and slobber, and boogers, and anything else that comes out of a tiny ball of human."

Tony looked slightly green. "I don't know if I can do this."

Diana held out Nate. "Just hold him."

"I don't like being handed things," he retorted, inching back on the couch. But he caught sight of Pepper's expression, and realized that he couldn't, he _could not_ , do this with his own child. It wasn't fair to Pepper, or the baby, or even himself, and he was just going to have to suck it up. "Okay," he said, closing his eyes and holding his arms out stiffly, "give it."

Diana laughed, and plopped the child into his lap.

His arms clasped around Nate frantically. "Um..."

"You're fine, Tony," Clint said calmly.

Nate squirmed and turned around to pull at Tony's shirt. "Bah," he said plaintively.

Tony glanced at the other adults. "I don't understand what he wants," he said, equally plaintively.

Pepper merely smiled. "You'll figure it out, Tony." She levered herself to her feet with Clint's help, and shuffled out. "I'm going back to bed."

Clint checked his watch. "I've got a thing with Natasha. Diana, you got this?"

"Yep." Diana waved her soulmate out the door, and stood up.

Tony grabbed at her shirt hem. "Diana wait. Where are you going?! Don't leave me alone with a child! Do you know what could happen!"

She rolled her eyes. "Tony, I'm going to go make Nate a snack. You and him are going to stay here, in the living room, twenty feet away. If you want, sit on the floor with him. That way you won't drop him. I'll be two seconds away, and you'll be fine. Just relax. You're not going to break him." She ruffled Nate's little mop of hair, handed him an action figure of Iron Man, ruffled Tony's hair, and walked into the kitchen.

Nate promptly put the Iron Man figurine into his mouth.

"No no," Tony said, gently pulling the helmet from his mouth. "This is for playing, not eating."

Nate frowned up at him.

"Like this," Tony said, making the action figure fly. "Whoosh. See? Too bad there's no repulsors in this thing. That'd be cool. Although not safe. Very not safe. Don't play with repulsors." He made the little superhero whoosh back through the air.

Nate was amused by this, and scrabbled for the figure. "Whoooooosh," he said, in imitation.

Tony smiled. "Just like that, bud."

Nate whooshed the Iron Man figure back into his mouth.

Tony face-palmed. "I really hope this is a phase," he said. "If you grow up sticking your dad's arrows into your mouth, you're going to have a problem."

Diana, coming back from the kitchen, laughed at Tony's comment. "It's just a phase," she assured him, replacing the Iron Man figure with a piece of banana. "Your kid's going to be just the same."

Tony sighed.

"All right, put him on the floor and he can have his Cheerios," Diana instructed.

Tony gingerly settled him on the floor and watched interestedly as Nate demolished the Cheerios with the single-mindedness of the Hulk. "That's awesome," he said.

Nate held up a grubby fistful of Cheerios, offering them to Tony with a gap-toothed smile. "Um?" he asked.

Tony cleared his throat. "Uh, no thanks. I'm okay."

Nate pouted. He pulled out the puppy eyes and the sad face and even a couple tears in the corner of his eyes.

Tony's resistance melted and he took one of the grubby Cheerios. "Yum," he said enthusiastically.

Diana smiled, and accepted her own Cheerio offering. "Thank you Nate," she said solemnly.

Nate leaned against Tony's thigh, and started to line the Cheerios on his leg, humming and muttering to himself contentedly.

Tony watched him curiously for a while, and brought a gentle hand down to rest on Nate's soft hair. He carded his fingers through his hair and smiled when Nate cooed at him.

Diana took a picture of them and sent it to Pepper and Clint. "So far so good," she said.

Clint came by to get Nate an hour or so later, and he found Tony laying on the floor, Nate sitting on his stomach, and they were looking at holographic schematics in the air. Diana was sitting off to the side with a tablet and an earpiece, talking in slightly accented French. She waved at Clint and gave him a thumbs-up.

Clint sat down next to Tony on the floor. "How's it going, Nate? You keeping an eye on this guy?"

Nate smiled and pointed at the holograms. "Da. Maf."

"Did he just say math?" Clint asked, astonished.

Tony smirked smugly. "Your kid inherited your genius with vectors, Clint. I just taught him the words."

Clint smiled. "Well, it's time for this little guy to have a nap, so..."

Tony sat up and let Nate go to his father. "It was fun, little man. Maybe when my baby's born the two of you will be friends."

Clint smiled. "Say bye-bye to Tony, Nate."

Nate waved a hand. "Bye Ony." He waved all the way out of the living room.

Diana finished up her call to the French government and told Tony, "You're going to be a great dad."

Tony ran his fingers through his hair and came away with a piece of Cheerio. "You think so?" he asked, trying to sound nonchalant.

Diana smiled. "I know so." She came to sit next to him. "When you and Pepper have the baby, it's going to be fine."

"But newborns are so small," Tony fretted.

She leaned against his shoulder. "Tony. Everything's going to be fine. you've gone to the classes with Pepper, you survived a toddler, you survived the bodily fluids, everything's going to be fine." She smiled. "Only a couple more weeks, and you can see for yourself."

Tony groaned and put his hands on his face. "Two weeks," he said. "D-day is in two weeks."

"You can't call it D-Day," she said patiently.

"Yes I can."

The next two weeks were strange. Diana spent more time with Pepper than her office, and Darcy spent more time herding Tony in and out of his office. "I want hazard pay," Darcy grouched, on the phone with Diana even though they were only three floors apart. She was with Tony in the lab, and her boss was with Pepper in the penthouse. "Tony just tried to explode us so he wouldn't have to leave the lab."

"I did not!"

"Yeah, you did," Darcy shot back. "Sign this." There was a scuffle.

Diana laughed and turned down the volume. "All right, well, a few more days and it'll be over. Remind Tony that technically he's already on his paternity leave and that he won't get any sleep for the next three years so he'd better take a nap."

"Yeah I don't think that's going to fly," Darcy said, laughing. "Was that all, boss?"

"Yep, that was it." Diana smirked. "See you later." She hung up.

There was a sudden crack of thunder. Pepper woke up from her impromptu doze and sat up. "Is it going to storm?" she asked drowsily.

Diana went to the window. "Nope, it's still clear out." She smiled and turned to the door. "I think we have a visitor."

A moment later Thor swaggered through the door. "I bring greetings from Asgard," he said, coming over to hug Diana and twirl her off her feet. "Loki sends a hug."

She smiled and hugged him back tightly. "Thank you. I'm so glad you came to visit."

"I could not be absent when our dear friends are expecting their first child." Thor turned to Pepper and very, very gently gave her a hug. "How do you feel, Pepper?"

"As well as can be, I think," Pepper replied, "even if I feel like a whale."

Thor smiled. "You are bringing a life into this world, Lady Pepper," he said solemnly. "It is not the external shape that matters, but the strength of your spirit."

Pepper's eyes filled with tears. "That's beautiful, Thor."

He smiled, and helped her sit down again, carefully elevating her feet.

"So how's Asgard?" Diana asked, beckoning Thor over to her desk-corner once Pepper got involved in a talk show.

"Asgard is fine. Sif sends her greetings as well." Thor sighed.

"But?" Diana pressed gently.

"But there is something brewing on another world," Thor said grimly. "A few of my warriors have heard that several interested parties are after the Mind stone. We need to alert the Avengers, and Vision."

Diana nodded briskly. "FRIDAY, get Darcy up here to keep an eye on Pepper. Tell Tony to meet us on the roof. Tell Cap we're on our way to the facility, and don't let Vision out of his sight."

"Yes Mrs. Rogers," FRIDAY replied calmly.

A klaxon started to go off.

"What is that?" Pepper asked, alarmed.

"Dr. Foster's advance warning system has gotten a hit," FRIDAY reported, her tone anxious. "It appears to be the forward wash of at least two hyperspace tunnels."

Diana groaned. "Recall the Avengers. Lockdown the Tower. Thor, Iron Man, suit up!" She looked at Pepper. "We've got to get you back to the Avengers Facility."

"You as well," Thor said urgently.

Tony came bursting through the common room door. "We've got incoming!" he announced, his latest Iron Man suit forming around him. "Pepper, Diana, Darcy, get to a quinjet!"

Almost before Diana could blink, all essential civilians and personnel were on their way to the Avengers Facility and its state-of-the-art bunker.

They saw the Avengers' quinjet flying in the opposite direction, and the draft from both jets made the quinjet shudder.

Pepper grabbed Diana's hand tightly. "I can't believe this is happening again," she murmured.

"Everything's going to be fine," Diana assured her.

Pepper shook her head worriedly. "The last time there was aliens in space, Tony almost died," she said.

Diana squeezed her hand. "It's going to be fine," she said. "He knows what's waiting for him at home, and the team won't let him get hurt. You know that, Pepper."

Pepper nodded, took a deep breath to calm down, and then gasped.

"What?" Diana asked worriedly.

Pepper pressed a hand to her lower back. "I think I'm having contractions."

Darcy, on the other side of the quinjet, shook her head, her face suddenly white. "Nope. Nope, you are _not_ having contractions on a quinjet above New York. Not gonna happen. It's just stress, that's all."

"I think you might be right," Pepper said, rubbing her back again. "This feels more like muscle twinges."

Diana rubbed at her friend's back lightly. "Just relax, Pepper. We're almost to the facility, and your doctor and the midwife are going to be there, and we can make sure everything is going to be fine. Just relax."

Pepper nodded, closed her eyes, and focused on breathing.

They made it to the Avengers Facility just fine, and Diana went with Pepper to the Medical Ward while Darcy went to be briefed by Hill.

"Yep, they're contractions," the doctor said cheerfully.

Pepper literally whimpered. "Now?" she said, shaking her head. "No, no, no, I am not going to be the cliché wife of a main character that goes into labor when there's an important battle going on. I won't."

Diana pressed her lips together to keep from smiling. "I think you've been hanging out with Deadpool too much, Pep."

"Who?"

"Never mind." Diana rubbed at Pepper's back lightly. "Everything's going to be fine, Pep. I'm here, I'm not going to leave you, okay?"

Pepper shook her head. "I think I'll be fine for a while, right doc?"

"Right. She's still in the early stages of labor, Mrs. Rogers, we might be here for a while."

Diana frowned, and then saw Darcy waving at her frantically in the corner. "Okay. I'll be back in a bit." She left the med ward and met Darcy in the hallway. "Sit rep?"

"Not good." Darcy threw a holo screen up on the wall. "Jane's net is tracking two spaceship signatures, and they're settling into orbit around the planet. We're tracking their scans, and they're looking for power sources."

"They can track the Mind stone?" Diana asked worriedly.

"It looks like it, yeah. Thank goodness Thor got here in time. We're going to need the muscle. The Avengers, and Vision, are moving out of the populated area and, they need permission to go into Canada."

Diana smiled. "Call the ambassador and I'll get it."

The ambassador was not happy about possible alien battles being fought in the wilds of Canada, but would rather have that than downtown New York or Niagara Falls. So she gave the Avengers permission to deal with the possible alien invasions in Canada. And just in time, too, as two minutes later the Avengers crossed the border.

Diana kept a screen with her at all times, and kept a comm in her ear to listen to the Avengers channel. But until something actually happened, Darcy could handle the UN, and Diana's place was with her soulmate's soulmate. Which made Pepper her soulmate once removed, which made her... "FRIDAY, coffee," she said aloud. "I need coffee." It was only ten in the morning, but it was going to be a long, long day...

By ten at night, Pepper was still walking the halls of the Med Ward, sweating and panting and gripping Diana's hand when a contraction came. The spaceships were hovering in geostationary orbit above North America, still scanning for the Mind stone. They were sweeping closer and closer to Canada.

Tony and Bruce, and Vision, were working on shielding the Mind stone as best they could, and Steve was working with the rest of the Avengers and SHIELD on prepping defenses. Tony was also asking for updates on Pepper every half hour. Diana made FRIDAY do it, as she was focusing on helping Pepper breathe.

"Okay," Pepper said, after she'd nearly squeezed the life out of Diana's hand, "I think it's really close. That was really, really strong."

"Okay," Diana said reassuringly, discretely trying to see if she could shake the circulation back in her hand. "We just have to walk ten feet back to the room and the doctor will check, okay?"

"Yep."

They made it the ten feet back to her room, and Diana called for the doctor. "Yep, your baby is almost ready to join us in the world. I just need you to keep breathing, okay?"

"Okay." Pepper groaned and squeezed Diana's hand.

Diana couldn't help her wince.

Pepper saw, and frowned. "Sorry," she gasped, closing her eyes.

"It's okay," Diana said, patting Pepper's forehead with a cool cloth. "You're doing some epic work. You can squeeze my hand as hard you-" She heard something in her comm and went silent, trying to listen.

"-they've found the Mind stone. Shielding is ineffective." Bruce sounded worried.

"Sir, I'm reading ten incoming vessels. They've entered the atmosphere and are headed right for us." FRIDAY.

"Formation?" That was Steve.

"Standard diamond."

"Right. To the quinjets, people. Iron Man, you stay on the sidelines, you've got enough to worry about."

"I can do my job, Cap."

"I know. But I don't want to let Pepper see you with a single bruise, got it?"

"Got it."

"ETA three minutes," Sam warned.

"Right. Let's do this."

Diana suddenly realized that everyone in the room was staring at her as she frowned into the middle distance.

"Diana?" Pepper asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Diana shook her head and gave Pepper a small, forced smile. "Nothing. It's fine. They're handling it."

Darcy knocked and burst into the room. "TV, TV, TV," she said hurriedly, snapping on the screen. "Look."

There, with the best camera angles FRIDAY could manage, she displayed the ten alien ships coming down through the atmosphere, and the three quinjets rising off the ground to meet them. A tiny flash of red and gold, and grey, proclaimed that Iron Man and War Machine were out, as well.

Pepper gasped and squeezed Diana's hand again, this time in terror, not contractions.

"All right, let's turn that off," the doctor instructed, giving the CEO a worried look.

"No," Pepper said, "I need to see."

"No," Diana said, just as firmly. She blocked Pepper's view of the screen. "Right now, you need to focus on you and your baby," she said. "The Avengers can look after themselves, and if anything important happens, I will tell you. Sound good?"

Pepper nodded. "Sounds good."

"Good." Diana turned off the screen and waved Darcy over. "Hold Pepper's hand for a second, I have to get something."

"Uh, okay."

Diana pelted through the halls of the med ward, made a beeline for Tony's armory, where only she and Steve had the entry codes, and swiped a shell of a repulsor gauntlet off the desk. They'd made fun of that version of armor, because it was soft and formed over the wearer's skin, and Tony hadn't gotten any further than the inner shell. She fastened it to her fingers and palm, and raced back to the Med Ward. "Back," she said brightly, replacing Darcy at the bedside. She let the gauntlet form around her hand. "All right Pepper, now you can squeeze as hard as you like."

Pepper laughed. "Good thinking."

Diana let her squeeze through the contraction, and laid her other hand on top of Pepper's. "You're doing great," she promised. "Darcy, you'll keep me updated?"

"Yeah. Keep your comm on. I'll be back with coffee."

"Thanks."

The next few hours were the strangest of Diana's life. She was in the room with Pepper, coaxing her to breathe through her contractions, and watching her best friend cry and curse her billionaire husband, but in one ear she was listening to the pitched battle that was aliens vs. superheroes.

They'd managed to shoot down six of the ships before the battle had been taken to the ground, but so far they were handling it. Vision was in no danger, so far, and as long as no more help came from the motherships, everything was going to be fine. Also, as long as Tony kept it together and didn't focus on the pains coming through the soulmate bond. So far, Clint and Sam were distracting him with the banter.

"I can't do it anymore," Pepper half-sobbed, shaking her head. "It's been hours and I just want to be done, I'm tired."

Diana dabbed at her face and neck with a damp cloth. "You _can_ ," she told the older woman. "You've managed Tony Stark and SI for _years_ , this is just one day of pain and you're done. You're almost there, Pep, I promise."

The midwife nodded encouragingly. "Now when this next contraction hits, I need you to push with all your might, Pepper. Got it?"

Pepper nodded.

The next contraction hit, Pepper pushed, and things started happening. "I can see the head," the midwife announced. "Come on, big push."

What seemed like hours but was only a few minutes later, the beautiful, sweet cry of a newborn baby rang through the room. "It's a boy," the doctor announced.

Diana stared at the red, slimy, squalling creature in the midwife's arms, and smiled. "You did it Pep," she whispered, giving her friend a smile.

Pepper's face when the now-toweled off infant was placed in her arms was the most beautiful expression Diana had ever seen on another human. "He's perfect," Pepper whispered, tears of joy sliding down her face. "He's absolutely perfect."

Diana stepped back to let her have a moment, and took a picture of the perfect scene for Tony. Then, she pressed her earpiece, turning it from receiving to two-way. "Not to interrupt your battle, but, it's a boy," she announced.

There was a moment's silence, and later on the tapes Diana would see Iron Man dropping to the ground in complete shock. "He's here?" Tony whispered into the comms hoarsely, letting FRIDAY take over the armor and fight for him.

"He's here," Diana replied, grinning from ear-to-ear. "Ten fingers, ten toes, absolutely perfect. I'm sending you a visual. FRIDAY?"

FRIDAY sent the picture directly to Iron Man's HUD, and Tony gave a choked gasp. "He's so tiny," he said.

Diana smiled. "Yeah."

"Iron Man, get out of here," Cap ordered kindly. "Thor, cover him."

"On my way," Tony said, sounding teary-eyed. "I'll be there ASAP. Tell Pepper I'm coming."

"I will. Going off comms." Diana switched her earpiece back to receive-only, and stepped back to the bed.

"If you'll come with me, we'll take care of the baby while Pepper finishes up," the midwife said, nodding to Diana. "Would you like to hold him?"

Diana carefully accepted the newborn into her arms, and smiled at the baby's scrunched little face. "He looks like Tony," she said, blinking back happy tears. He opened his eyes at her voice, and stared up at her solemnly for a few moments. "Hey, little man. I'm your Auntie Diana."

She held him while he got his first shots, his antibiotic, regretfully gave him up for weighing and foot-printing, and held him while Pepper was getting cleaned up and changed into a fresh gown, and resettled.

"Tony's on his way," she informed Pepper, once she was clear to come over. "Hungry?"

Pepper nodded, and yawned. "Starved. What time is it?"

Diana glanced at the clock in the corner, trying to focus on the numbers. "Uh, like six in the morning, I think. Breakfast."

Pepper ordered breakfast, and while she was waiting for it, carefully cuddled the newborn skin-to-skin.

Diana helped her eat, and watched Pepper murmur and talk to her baby, smoothing her fingers up and down the little infant's back. Pepper yawned again, for the fourth time. "I think I need sleep," she muttered, closing her eyes. "Will you take the baby, Di?"

"Yeah. You get some rest. Tony's still a few minutes out, and he's going to want to shower and change before he comes over. Right FRIDAY?"

"Directing Sir to quarters now," FRIDAY announced in her earpiece. "He's not very happy about it."

"Well he's not coming in here smelling like sweat and battle," Diana replied firmly.

"Sir says good point," FRIDAY said, after a second.

Diana chuckled quietly, and just stood there, watching the tightly wrapped burrito baby in her arms. She realized that nobody had named him yet, and wondered if they'd even settled on a name at all. She was just going to call him 'Jr', till someone said something.

Before she even knew it, there were hurried footsteps down the hall, and Tony crept quietly into the room, his expression half-hopeful half-terrified. He froze upon seeing the bundle in Diana's arms. "Is that..." He turned pale.

Diana smiled at him gently. "Come meet your son."

He walked forward two steps, froze again, and said, "I think I need to sit down."

She gently shoved him into a chair, and waited till he'd taken a couple deep breaths and ran his fingers through his damp hair a few times. He hadn't taken his eyes off the baby's face. "Would you like to hold him?" she asked.

Tony's face went another shade of pale, but he nodded jerkily.

She carefully transferred the Stark heir into his father's arms, and made sure he was holding him securely, before she straightened up and took a step back.

Tony's eyes filled with tears. "My son," he whispered, touching the baby's cheek gently.

Diana snapped a picture, and tried not to get overwhelmed from the amount of feelings transmitting through their soulmate bond. If she broke down, the entire Avengers team would be unsettled. She took a deep breath, and knelt in front of Tony's chair. "Would you like to see his little toes?" she asked.

"Won't he be cold?" Tony worried.

Diana smiled. "It'll be fine for a minute." She carefully unwrapped the baby burrito and watched Tony's face as he stared at the perfect tiny toes, and the perfect little fat-rolls of his thighs, and the tiniest diaper she'd ever seen, and the little fat-rolls on his arms, and smiled when he traced the shell of his perfect little ear.

"He's perfect," Tony said, his voice choked. He bent his head to press a kiss to the baby's forehead.

The baby woke up, probably due to Tony's facial hair, and blinked up at his father.

"His eyes are blue," Tony said dazedly.

"Lots of newborns' are," Diana told him, taking another picture of the Stark staring contest.

Tony blinked. "Hi," he murmured, in a gentle tone of voice Diana had never heard before. "I'm your dad. You probably know that already, from the sound of my voice." He touched the baby's fist gently. "And I promise I'm going to try my hardest to be the best dad I can, okay? I promise."

The baby blinked up at him, and then nestled into his arm with a little newborn mewl, completely secure in the arms of his father.

Tony carefully tugged the blankets back around his son, and simply stared for another good long minute. "My son," he said again. "Steven Jarvis Stark."

Diana's head jerked up and she stared at him. "But you said you weren't naming him after anyone on the team," she blurted.

Tony smiled at her. "No, we named him after family. The two best role models a boy could have." He smoothed the baby's fuzzy hair. "I think we'll call him Jay, for now. What do you think, little man?"

Diana frowned at him curiously. "How long did you guys have the name?"

"Uh, since you and Steve went home after I found out Pepper was pregnant."

Diana's jaw dropped. "Are you kidding? Everyone's been submitting name suggestions for months!"

Tony shrugged. "Nobody suggested anything that we liked better, so, we went with our original plan." He smirked. "Although I did like all your suggestions about naming him after classical figures. Fitzwilliam, really?"

"What?" Diana asked, blushing. "You can't go wrong with Pride and Prejudice."

"Uh-huh." Tony glanced over at Pepper when she stirred, and his smile gentled. "Hey, there's the lady of the hour," he said, standing up and going over to the bedside. He leaned forward to kiss her forehead. "You did good, Mrs. Stark," he said, glancing down at the baby.

"Yeah," Pepper agreed, smiling at him. "Do I get more than twelve percent of the credit this time?"

Tony groaned. "At this point, you get one hundred percent."

"Well, Diana helped a little, too," Pepper acknowledged. "And so did your Iron Man tech, so, you can have like, one percent."

Tony smirked, and then raised an eyebrow. "Wait, my tech?"

Diana waved a hand at him, where the bracelet and palm-piece were still attached. "There was a lot of hand-squishing going on," she said.

Tony nodded. "Well, one percent then. Although, half of this little guy's DNA is mine, so..."

"So when you've carried a child to term and spent eighteen hours in labor, you can claim more than one percent," Pepper said tiredly, closing her eyes again.

Tony leaned forward to kiss her gently. "I love you."

"Love you too."

Diana slipped out of the room, letting the small family have their moment, and suddenly the ten minutes' walk from Medical to Control seemed miles long. She sank onto the nearest hallway chair. She closed her eyes, and focused on the chatter from the comms.

"-good job, everyone," Steve was saying. "As soon as SHIELD gives us the all-clear, we can head home."

"Yes, finally," Scott said, with a groan.

"I'm missing an arrow," Clint announced.

"Dude, that was the one that blew up," Sam said.

"Oh yeah. Never mind, all clear."

Diana's eyes opened again. How'd they get the aliens to actually go away? She dragged herself to her feet, made a beeline to the nurse's station, and found a cup of coffee pressed into her hand. "Uh, thank you?" she told the male nurse.

He gave her a sympathetic smile. "It's dark roast, very good for all-nighters," he said.

She took a sip, downed half of it in two gulps, and shuffled the two billion miles to Control. Maria and the support staff were there, looking haggard as they directed clean-up and local SHIELD support. Darcy was slumped awkwardly in a chair, dozing.

"It's a boy," Diana declared, as soon as she entered the room.

Maria's face lit up with a smile. "Good for them," she muttered, before becoming completely professional and going back to work.

Diana poked at Darcy, who was barely starting to wake up, and offered her the rest of the super-strong coffee. "It's a boy," she repeated.

Darcy nodded. "Cool." She sat up straight, and shook her head. "You look awful, boss."

"Thanks," Diana said wryly.

"In a, you helped someone deliver a small someone, kind of way," Darcy added cheerfully. "Anyhow, wow that's strong coffee, the Avengers are done, headed home."

"I gathered that. How'd they get the aliens to leave?"

Darcy flipped to a screen on her tablet. "Uh, Tony and Bruce modified the Hulk buster suit to go into low orbit and damage the shuttle bay of the alien ship?" she said. "And then Steve gave a very inspiring speech about humanity and rights and defending against piracy and I have it recorded if you'd like to watch it. It's one of his best speeches. And the aliens decided that it wasn't worth the trouble to get the infinity stone, and according to Thor, who was the only one who understood their inter-ship chatter, they didn't want to stick around when the Master got here."

Diana felt a thrill of dread creep down her spine. "Who's the Master?" she asked slowly.

Darcy shook her head. "We don't know."

Diana sighed. If it wasn't an immediate threat, they could deal with it later. "Okay," she said. "How's the rest of the world responding to the threat?"

"So far, all responses have been positive," Darcy reported. "UN is pleased that no cities were demolished, and the WSC is pleased that we get more alien tech to scavenge from, not that SHIELD's going to let the WSC get their grubby hands on it, and... yeah."

"Awesome. Take the rest of today off; you've earned it. I'm going to go shower, change, have breakfast, and handle the debriefs, and the team."

"What about sleep?" Darcy asked.

"I'll sleep when Steve gets back," Diana replied.

"Cool." Darcy shuffled off to bed.

Diana headed to her own quarters, took a long, hot shower, put on sweatpants and a comfy T-shirt, and went to the mess hall. She plowed her way through waffles, half a cantaloupe, and two cups of coffee before getting word that the quin-jets were landing. She took another coffee to go, and even beat Maria to the hangars.

The Avengers piled off the jets, looking weary and battered, but not broken, and none of them had any life-threatening injuries. Steve dropped his kit bag and pulled Diana into a hug as soon as he came within reach. "Hi," he breathed into her hair.

She hugged him tightly. "Hi," she replied, realizing belatedly that if she hugged anyone else she'd have to shower again. That didn't matter, though, and she gratefully hugged all her soulmates before directing them to shower, sleep, and don't even think of going to bother the Starks until mid-afternoon. She'd checked on them, and the baby was fine in his bassinet as both parents slept, exhausted.

"We'll debrief once everyone's gotten some sleep," Diana told Steve, as she met him outside Medical, and they walked back to their apartment.

"All right." He gratefully accepted her help in stripping the uniform off, and convinced her that showering together would conserve water and energy. They were both too tired to do anything more than wash up and dry off, and cuddle together in bed. Both of them were asleep within minutes.

Most of the Avengers slept till three in the afternoon, and official debriefing was at four. That took a good two hours, and SHIELD was still working on containing all the debris from the alien ships.

"Which leads us to the last important item," Diana said, smiling. "The Stark baby."

Everyone smiled.

"We can't all go and see him at once," Diana continued. "But two or three at a time, and we'll space out the visits. FRIDAY made a roster."

"What's the baby's name?" Wanda asked eagerly.

"Steven Jarvis Stark," Tony's voice announced proudly, walking into the conference room, a tiny blue bundle in his arms. "Jay, meet the Avengers. Avengers, meet my son." The pride in his voice made Diana smile.

Steve looked shocked. "Tony," he started, and fell silent.

"I knew it," Rhodey muttered, grinning. He slapped Steve on the back. "You've got another automatic member of the fan club, Steve."

"Next one, we'll name him after you," Tony promised his old friend, looking slightly apologetic.

Natasha smirked. "You should wait and see if you can handle one of these, let alone two."

"Good point." Tony held him out. "Isn't he the most perfect baby you've ever seen?"

"He is truly a credit to his parents," Thor said, nodding. "He will grow up to be a fine man, Tony."

Jay was passed around from person to person, even Pietro and Bucky, and finally it was Steve's turn to hold him. The baby looked positively miniscule compared to Steve's bulk, and Diana took about a dozen pictures as Steve held the baby and cooed over him like everyone else had done.

"Thinking of having your own?" Tony murmured into her ear, slinging an arm around her waist.

Diana smiled softly. "Maybe."

The baby started to whimper, and Steve went from sappy to panicked in half a second flat. Tony moved forward and scooped the baby up. "All right, little man, time to go back to mama." He grinned at everybody and left, cradling his precious bundle.

Everyone split up and wandered off to relax after that, and Wanda dragged Pietro out of the room, the speedster still soliloquizing over the baby. "He was so _small_ , Wanda, did you _see_ his _tiny fingers_? I didn't know a person could be that small..."

Diana hung back as everyone scattered, and waited for Vision to come over to her. "How do you feel?" she asked gently.

"About the aliens or the baby?" Vision asked.

"Both."

Vision shook his head. "The baby... I have never truly seen a newborn before, and I will relish the experience of watching a baby grow into an adult."

"How do you feel about the fact that he's named after the person most of your programming is based on?" Diana asked.

Vision gave her a small smile. "It's a little odd, but, JARVIS would be proud."

"So would Jarvis," Diana said, smiling at the thought of old Edwin Jarvis.

They shared a smile at the strangeness of it all, and Diana sobered. "And the aliens?" she asked.

Vision's smile went away. "I do not appreciate being treated as an object of piracy," he said slowly, "and I also do not appreciate the fact that other species will try and come for the infinity stone. I don't want to be a danger to the people of this planet."

"Maybe the Asgardians can help with that," Diana said. "Did you or Thor understand what they said about the Master?"

"No." Vision shook his head. "Thor fears that something bigger is happening, more than just pirates looking for a score."

"What kind of big?" Diana asked uneasily. "Like, galaxy-wide? Realm-wide?"

"Something, well, infinite, would be the word for it, I suppose."

 **A/N 2: I'm assuming you all know where this is headed...I have big plans for the next few chapters. Big plans. *cue slightly maniacal laughter which may include nine-movie contract significance...***

 **Also on another note, thanks for all the favorites and follows. I love hearing from you guys :D**


	39. Chapter 39

**A/N: Hello! Finally! Ugh, life. Really short chapter, more of an interlude...**

A week after the alien incident, there was a UN summit to create strategies in case of future alien invasions or attacks. It was being hosted in Switzerland, and Diana was required to be there. Thor was invited to attend on behalf of Asgard as well.

"So," Bucky said, looking over Diana's schedule with brotherly nosiness, "who are you taking with you to the summit thing?"

"There's no plus-one on the invite, Buck," Diana said wryly, "it's not like I can take Steve to a getaway in the Alps."

Bucky gave her a look. "You're one of the most kidnappable people on the planet. You're not going anywhere without bodyguards. Plural. At least two. I'm not coming, by the way, because I'm pretty sure that I've carried out at least two assassinations in that building alone and they wouldn't let me past the door."

Diana bit her lip. At least he could laugh about his old life. "So, who would you recommend, from an assassin-y point of view?"

"Tasha and Stark," he said, after a minute. "Steve would be too distracted by you, and everyone else is too new. Maybe Sam. But the suit and the mini-missiles are a big plus."

Diana laughed. "You are crazy paranoid. Also, I'm pretty sure Tony is invited as well, since SHIELD definitely needs to have a say in safety measures."

"Fine. You're taking Rhodey. And Stark can take Clint." Bucky smirked. "Steve's going to agree with me, watch."

Steve agreed, and the delegates and bodyguards were shipped off to to Switzerland in style, on Tony's private jet.

They arrived, spent the night in a lavish hotel that the UN provided, and hte next morning checked in. Diana, Tony, and Thor were given delegate badges, and the other three were named sescurity. Natasha and Rhodey shadowed Diana, and Clint brooded from a niche in the ceiling, like, well, a hawk.

"King T'Challa," Diana said, giving the familiar man a smile. "Long time no see."

He gave her a smile. "Indeed. How is Captain Rogers?"

"He's good. In love with his new namesake."

"Oh yes. Stark's son was born just last week." T'Challa smiled. "Is he as opinionated as his father?"

Diana laughed. "If you mean he cries with a vengeance until someone pays attention to him, then yes."

T'Challa smirked.

The summit was called to order, and the meeting began.

"Our first line of defense needs to be in space," Tony insisted, for the third time. "If they've landed on Earth we're already done for."

"We don't have the resources for-"

" _As if_ ," Tony interrupted. "SI alone could build a defense net if you poeple stop debating over airspace rights."

That stopped them.

"Director Stark is right," Thor said, speaking up for the first time since the meeting started. "Half of this conference has been country leaders fighting over property lines which have no real meaning. To stand against a larger threat, all of Midgard needs to be united."

"That's easy for you to say, Your Majesty, Asgard is already united and under a single rule."

"That is because all of my people _cooperate_ ," Thor replied. "You do not seem to realize that there are larger things at stake here than imaginary lines of credit. You do not seem to realize that you are wasting the resources your realm provides you with." He ignored the protests from several leaders and contoinued, "Do you think the Chitauri would have cared about who owns what if they'd conquered New York? Do you think any aliens _care_ that the people of this world are divided up by their own greed? No, beceause they would use that to exploit you. HYDRA did so for hundreds of years and I'm sure there's more if its influence here than anyone would like to admit."

No one wanted to meet anyone else's eyes, and the tension in the room went up a notch.

"You think slashing NASA's budget was a coincidence, when it happened?" Tony asked, giving them a conspiratorial look.

"The point is," T'Challa said, "we are part of the United Nations. And the UN needs to start living up to its name."

There were no objections to that. They grudgingly started talking about sharing resources to create a defense net, with Stark Tech and SHIELD at the fore.

Four days later, the summit was concluded, Thor went straight back to New York to consult on a wormhole issue, and Stark brought his weary teammates to what he called "a small cabin, oh hey, do you guys know how to ski?"

When they got to what was definitely _not_ a small cabin but instead a giant log mansion nestled into the side of a mountain, they found Pepper, Jay, Steve, Laura, and the kids waiting for them.

"Auntie Nat!" Lila shrieked when she saw them, bypassing her father completely and wrapping her favorite aunt in a hug. "Come see our snowman!"

The two spysassins were quickly carted off to go see the kids' snow creations, and Tony went immediately to his baby. "It is ridiculous how much I missed the two of you," he said, giving Pepper a kiss and tickling Jay's little tummy. Rhodey went to find a snack, and it was just Steve and Diana in the entrance hall.

"Hello soldier," Diana said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He placed his hands on her hips ad bent to give her a kiss. "Hello yourself."

They got kind of distracted then, and only broke apart when Lila came running, demanding her other favorite Aunt come play snowball fight.

"Sure, sweetie," Diana said, clearing her throat. "Let me just find some snow gear, okay?"

"Kay. You too, Steve!"

"Yes ma'am." He winked at the little girl and she ran off happily.

They found snow boots and thick jackets in a closet, and went outside to join the rest of the family. Jay was in a heated self-contained bassinet with a tiny forcefield covering the top, napping.

"Seriously, Tony?" Diana asked.

"It's _snow_ ," Tony said expansively. "He can't miss it!"

A snowball came flying out of nowhere and hit Tony in the ear. He yelped and brushed it away frantically before it could slide down his collar. "Hey!" he hollered.

Steve was across the yard, grinning.

"Oh you're on Capsicle," Tony said, launching into the fray.

"I'm on team Jay," Diana said, cliaming a spot next to the baby.

"Oh, no no no," Pepper said, tugging her away from the bassinet. "I claim Team Jay."

Diana was hit by a stray snowball. "Fine." She scooped up snow. "I'm on Lila's team!" she hollered, and nailed Steve in the ear.

He let out a high-pitched yelp, and Tony nearly keeled over laughing. "Captain America taken out by his wife!" He stopped laughing when Clint dropped snow down the back of his shirt. "Owww heyyy!"

They played in the snow till everyone's lips were starting to turn blue, and then Clint grabbed Nate in a fireman's carry. "All right, who wants hot cocoa!" He started trudging towards the house, Lila holding his hand.

Tony picked up Jay's bassinet, Steve grabbed a shrieking Cooper by the ankles, and Diana, Laura, Natasha, and Pepper followed, brushing snow off each other.

They had hot cocoa by a roaring fire, hot beef stew for supper, and all the kids went to bed early, tuckered out from playing in the snow. The adults stayed in the cozy den, sipping warm mulled wine and chatting.

Diana was curled into Steve's side, his arm around her and her head on his shoulder, comfortably spacing out after a long day of listening to dignitaries spew hot air. "We should visit Wakanda," she said lazily. "T'Challa mentioned it again. Apparently Captain America has a lot of fans in that country."

"Really?" Steve asked.

Diana grinned. "It's your devastatingly handsome blue eyes."

He batted his eyelashes at her. "You think so?" he asked, giving her a pout.

She streteched up to press a kisss to his lips.

"Ewww," Tony said teasingly, from across the room. He had Jay nestled in his arm, and looked completely relaxed. "There's a baby in the room, Rogers, keep it PG."

"Oh how times have changed," Rhodey said dramatically. "A few years ago we all would've been smashed and possibly streaking through the snow on a dare."

"I can still dare you," Natasha said, giving him a wicked grin.

"No thank you," Rhodey said. "I like my core temperature right where it is."

Clint snickered.

The low music in the background changed to something low and jazzy. Diana tilted her head to smile at Steve.

He smiled back. "Wanna dance, doll?" he asked, already standing up. He held out a hand and drew her close as they started to dance in the center of the room.

"Ugh, disgustingly romantic," Tony said, setting Jay down in his bassinet. "Wanna dance, Pep?"

Natasha and Rhodey stood up as well, and Clint and Laura pushed the chairs back and followed.

The four couples danced for a while, switching partners and doing ridiculous twirls and dips.

Diana smiled up at Steve, their faces only a few inches apart. "I could stay here forever," she murmured.

He bent his head to kiss her lips gently. "I know the feeling," he whispered in her ear.

They stayed that way as the last song filtered to an end, and reluctantly drew away.

"Well," Clint said, yawning, "if we want to teach the midgets to ski tomorrow we'd better turn in. Night, everybody."

"Night."

They all went scattered to bed, and Diana curled up with Steve in their bedroom contentedly. "Love you."

"Love you too."

The Avengers contingent stayed in the cabin for another couple of days, skiing and snowboarding (and using Cap's shield as a saucer for the kiddie-slope) before returning home.

Everyone plunged back into the fray of work, and Diana spent her afternoon breaks with Pepper and Jay. He was turning into a cheerful roly-poly of a baby, and he loved everyone on the Avengers. He especially loved the Golden Retrievers. The dogs (and Spot) were also fascinated by the tiny ball of slobber, and Abby appointed herself Jay's guardian. Whenever he napped, she would sit next to his nap-area and keep an eye on him. Or sometimes, she'd play foot warmer to whoever was holding the baby. Pepper appreciated it very much.

It was strange though. All of the Avengers were tense, just waiting for the other shoe to drop after the alien attack. Wanda started having nightmares of shadowy figures and strange explosions. Vision haunted the halls like a ghost (literally, half intangible), wondering if he was having headaches or the Mindstone was acting up. Thor was in constant communication with his contacts in other realms, trying to figure out what was going on. Tony and Steve were compulsively checking the early-warning system for readings, and Tony was working almost non-stop on the space-net the UN was building.

The finished product would be a web of 50 self-contained weapons platforms that could _only_ be pointed outwards, never towards the Earth, preventing takeover from any human idiots. Each weapons platform had repulsors and rail weapons, as well as a healthy package of missiles. They were powered by arc reactors, and had maneuvering thrusters on all sides.

The defense net was 77% complete when a single, slightly broken-down spaceship entered the solar system and headed straight for Earth, braking just inside one of the defense net's blank spots.

 **A/N 2: So. In a week my mom's going to have surgery, and I'm going to be taking care of her for the next two weeks. If I can get the next chapter done before that time, I'll post it, but if not I probably won't be posting anything till late September because I'm going to be super busy. I just wanted to give you guys a heads up. Thanks for sticking with me!**


	40. Chapter 40

**A/N: I'm back! And to all the reviewers who guessed, yes. :) Okay. Here we go. Lots of stuff going on in this one...**

"As far as we can tell it's just sitting there," Tony said, frowning at the display.

"Have we tried hailing them?" Diana asked.

"This isn't Star Trek, doll, we can't just open hailing frequencies and-"

"Sir, the ship is broadcasting a message," FRIDAY interrupted.

"Oh." Tony looked surprised. "Well put it up."

The holo-screen display changed to broadcast a picture of a young man maybe in his early thirties. He looked completely human. "To all fellow humans who can receive this message, what's up?" He gave a half-wave. "My name is Peter Quill, also known as Star Lord. You probably haven't heard of me-"

"Of course they haven't heard of you, this planet is a savage backwater," a female's voice interrupted. "I don't see why we're even here, no one's going to be able to pick up-"

"Ignore her, she's a pessimist," Quill interrupted.

A vivid green hand with long fingernails came out to swat him on the head.

"Ow. Anyways, we're here to warn you about a, uh, danger, and if anyone's listening, please reply on this same frequency, preferably a Stark, or, the United Nations? I don't know politics, but seriously, somebody needs to pick up. We're on a deadline."

"Or we'll blow up your planet and save Thanos the trouble!" An honest-to-goodness racoon popped his head in the picture.

Quill pushed him out again. "He's kidding," he said hastily. "We don't have that kind of firepower."

"Yes we do-"

"No we don't, _shut up_ -"

The message stopped, and repeated.

"Sounds like a ragtag group if I ever heard one," Steve said.

"But he appreciates genius," Tony said, preening.

"Better answer 'em, Tones," Diana said, handing him a mic. "FRIDAY, open a channel."

Tony cleared his throat. "This is Tony Stark, Director of SHIELD. Welcome back to Earth, Mr. Quill."

The repeated message became live, and Quill grinned. "Director Stark, pleasure to meet you."

"You too, I guess. Can your ship land?"

"Yep."

"All right. Come on down and we can talk face to face." Tony sent him the coordinates for a landing spot on the Avengers grounds.

"Awesome. Over and out." The channel closed.

"Guests!" Diana said cheerfully.

"FRIDAY, put the base on yellow alert. Hill, I want an entourage of agents, discretely, and turn up the sensitivity on the early-warning system. Stark, when is the net going to be done?"

"Three days tops," Stark replied crisply.

They met the crew of the Milano as they filed out of the ship. There were five of them, an unlikely bunch. Peter Quill, the talking raccoon ("genetically engineered, has to be," Bruce muttered to Pietro) who was introduced as Rocket, a tree-form named Groot, a person named Drax, and the green woman named Gamora.

Tony did the introductions of the Avengers, and Rocket immediately started eyeing Bucky's arm. "I'm going to need that," he announced.

Bucky scowled. "No."

"So you're superheroes," Quill said, grinning at Natasha. "That's awesome."

She scoffed. "I thought you came to save the planet."

"Oh yeah." He went from flirt to professional in one second flat. "There's an insane villain mastermind that wants to assemble something called the Infinity Gauntlet, and to do so he needs the thing in that guy's head." He pointed at Vision. "He's got all the other ones."

Thor frowned. "His name?"

"Thanos."

Thor looked deeply troubled. "The madman in love with Death?"

"That's the one," Quill said.

"If he is truly trying to assemble the Infinity Stones..." Thor's frown could have caused a thunderstorm. "You need to give us all your information immediately, and we will need to prepare for war."

The Council of War was convened in the largest conference room they had, and the Guardians of the Galaxy (that was the name of their team, "Kinda pretentious don't you think?" "Pot meet kettle, Tony") told them their tale of the Orb, aka the Power Stone. They'd given it to the Nova Corps for safekeeping but it had been stolen shortly after.

"So he's got the Tesseract, the Aether, the Orb, and he's coming for the Time Stone?" Diana summarized.

"Basically."

"I thought there were six stones," Wanda interrupted, glancing at Thor.

"Just those four are enough to destroy the planet," Thor replied. "Well, the universe." He shrugged.

Steve frowned. "The defense net will be done in three days."

"That's not going to be enough," Gamora said flatly. "If he gets within range of Earth that will be the end."

"Okay, so we take the fight to him," Steve said.

"In what, your NASA shuttles?" Quill scoffed.

Tony grinned. "Well actually..."

They all looked at him.

"Rhodey and I have been working on that," Tony said, grinning. "We can start production immediately once I show you guys the specs, if you want."

Diana stared at him. "Are you saying you've built a spaceship?"

"Designed," Tony corrected. "All I've got is a prototype this big." He held up a tablet.

"Let's see it," Quill said.

They were more like two-person fighter pods, and according to Quill and Gamora, would totally work.

"That would still mean there's only eight ships, if you all went up," Gamora said. "Don't you people have a military?"

"Fighter pilots would line up by the hundreds to get a chance to fly in outer space," Rhodey commented.

"And there's always the X-Men," Bucky said.

They all looked at him.

"What?" he asked defensively. "Logan wanted to know what was going on, so I told him. There's tons of those mutants, not to mention all these Inhumans popping up. We need superpowers, not just guns, if the Infinity Gauntlet can twist reality or whatever."

Steve nodded, inwardly grinning with pride. "Good point."

"The Fantastic Four are pretty good at that, too," Diana said.

They went on the list.

"T'Challa's sure to have advanced tech that would help," Tony added.

"And my people will lend aid as well," Thor said. "It is the least we can do, to stop the mad titan."

"All right," Steve said. "Let's do this."

Nobody got much sleep in the intervening days.

The superheroes, mutants, and Inhumans all over the world were collaborating to come up with the weapons and the tactics for the upcoming battles. Stark Industries and Wakandan manufacturers were working round-the-clock double shifts to produce the materials necessary for the space ships.

Diana and Coulson were busy with SHIELD and the UN, working on strategies for planetary defense using the military, the national guard, and even insurgent groups in case of invasion on the home front. "Nothing like a planetary disaster to bring people together," Coulson said dryly, during one late night when Israel and Palestine agreed to join forces.

"I know, right? Now all we need is a charismatic president and a rousing speech," Diana said, finishing her umpteenth cup of coffee.

"Have you seen the second one?" Darcy asked, yawning.

Diana shook her head and sighed wistfully. "Not yet. Date night's on hold till further notice."

"Ah. It's not as good, but Liam Hemsworth's in it. Everybody in that movie is pretty."

"Hm."

The Asgardian contingent came to Midgard the following day, and Sif and Gamora became instant best friends, to Quill and Thor's chagrin.

Loki was left in Asgard under Hogun's protection, since Loki had been part of Thanos' plan to conquer the Tesseract, and they were afraid the titan would come after the child.

Groot, surprisingly, was fascinated by Tony's child. He'd never seen a tiny human before, and whenever Pepper and Jay were in the area, he would wander over and stare at Jay's tiny features.

"Would you like to hold him?" Pepper asked finally.

Groot looked astonished. "I am Groot," he replied.

Pepper held out the wrapped bundle, and helped the tree-form adjust his limbs.

Groot looked thrilled to be holding Jay, and Diana took a picture of the moment when Jay opened his eyes and smiled at Groot.

Rocket thought Jay was a useless pile of slobber.

Before they knew it, almost the entire world was onboard with the fight against Thanos. The plan was to take the fight to another world - literally. The _Milano_ had found an exo-planet in Alpha Centauri's system that could support life, with a thin atmosphere, sure, but it would work. They started setting up a base there immediately, and suddenly, going off-planet to save the planet was a real thing.

Peter was given the responsibility of guarding the families of the Avengers and the general public from supervillains. The Defenders from Hell's Kitchen were his backup. "You got this," Tony told him confidently.

Peter shook his head. "I'm just seventeen, give it to Matt-"

"You've got this," Steve told him firmly. "We believe in you."

Peter nodded. "Yes sir."

Tony scowled. "How come you believe him and not me?" he complained.

Peter shrugged. "I don't know. He's Cap."

"He's Cap," Tony grumbled, walking away in high dudgeon. "That's all anybody's gotta say. Well I'm Iron Man, so there." He went to hold Jay, and silently prayed that he would see his son grow up.

Diana was left in charge of the Avengers complex and still oversaw SHIELD as Head of Accountability. Coulson was in charge of SHIELD proper. Pepper was the boss of Avengers Tower and Stark Industries. Between the three of them and Nick Fury behind the scenes, there would be a world to come back to.

Diana stole a quiet moment with Steve while everyone was in a flurry of packing. She dragged him into a quiet alcove and kissed him fiercely. He returned it in equal measure, holding her close.

"I don't want you to go," she murmured into his ear, her hands curled into his shirt. "Can't you just, replace Peter?" Even as she spoke, she knew it was impossible.

Steve pulled his wife closer and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. "You know I can't," he said.

She sighed. "I know."

He wrapped his arms around her and just breathed. "Everything's going to be okay," he said softly.

She tensed in his arms. "You don't know that," she said, the knot in her stomach tightening. She dropped her forehead to his chest, hiding her sudden tears from him. "You literally cannot tell me that everything is going to be okay. There's a madman coming after Vision who wants to destroy the universe. You're going off to fight him on _another planet_. Nothing about this situation is okay."

"I know," he said, his tone sober. "But, Diana, if something does happen-"

She let out a choked sob. "No."

"If something happens," he continued, closing his eyes, "you have to promise me you're not going to give up."

"Steve-" she choked.

"No," he said, cupping her cheek and making her look up at him. "We will not let Thanos destroy Earth. Whatever it takes, you and the others will be safe. That was our promise. Whatever it takes."

She shook her head, tears running down her face. "Steve, I can't-"

"You can," he said firmly, even though his eyes were shining with emotion. "You're the strongest person I've ever known, Diana, if something happens to one of us, you've got to carry on." He gave her a small smile. "We need our soulmate to come home to."

She nodded. "I promise."

He pulled her close again, and gently touched her shoulder, where his words spiraled upon her skin. "I love you."

She pressed a kiss to his heart. "I love you," she echoed.

He closed his eyes to savor this moment, imprint it on his memory.

Tony interrupted the moment, did a chagrined double-take, and tried not to look affected by the emotional tableaux he'd just walked in on. "Uh, ahem, I have a thing, for Diana, that's important. Sorry." He stuck his hands in his pockets and stared at the floor as Steve and Diana stepped apart.

Steve offered Diana his handkerchief, and she wiped her eyes hastily. "What did you want to show me, Tony?" she asked, and cleared her throat.

He gave her an affectionate kiss on the forehead. "A present. C'mon. You too, Steve, so you can have peace of mind."

They followed him down to his Iron Man workshop, and with a flourish, he revealed a blue and silver suit. It was slimmer than the other ones, and it was shorter, too. "This is the Soulmate, Mark II," he said proudly. "What do you think?"

Diana gaped at him. "Wait, is this for me?"

"Yep." Tony beamed at her. "In case of emergencies, you can call it with this." He handed her a bracelet wrought from the same alloy as the suit, with a blue gem in the center. "Just press the sapphire, and it'll get to you in less than a minute. It's got a scaled down version of the Iron Man capabilities, all the speed, it's got FRIDAY integrated in the HUD, just less missiles and things. It does pack a wallop though, so, uh, watch where you aim it." He pressed a button, and the suit disintegrated, and rebuilt around a shocked Diana. "Take it slow, thrusters at ten percent."

"Uh, okay. Thrusters at ten percent?" She wobbled dangerously to the side as the repulsors fired up, and Tony grinned as she overcompensated into the other direction, almost punching Steve into a wall. "Whoa..."

Tony laughed. "You should've seen me the first time, I punched a hole in the ceiling, and the floor, and a wall, and a window... you're actually doing pretty good. Uh, you will need to practice with the HUD though. I've made FRIDAY create some tutorials."

"Wait, you said this was the Mark II," Steve said, helping Diana out of the suit. "What happened to the Mark I?"

"It couldn't lock on to her bio signs that one time she was abducted and I destroyed it in a fit of worry-induced rage," Tony admitted blithely. "It's cool though. This one's better."

Steve's jaw dropped. "And you're only now telling us this?"

"It was for emergencies only!" Tony protested. "This is a pretty big emergency!"

Diana broke up the argument by kissing Tony on the cheek. "Thank you," she said. "I will do my best to take care of Pepper and Jay."

Tony shook his head. "Pepper's got her own suit and Jay's got his bassinet. You take care of yourself, Di."

She nodded. "I will."

"Good." He gave her a teasing grin. "And don't have too many parties while we're gone, we don't want to miss all the fun."

Diana grinned. "With the Barton kids, I can't guarantee that."

For this crisis, all the Avengers families were moving into the complex, for both security and mutual comfort. The Bartons were already there, Mrs. Lawrence was on her way, and so was Mrs. Parker. Cassie, her mom, and Jim Paxton were arriving in two days, at the end of the school week. Dr. Richard's kid was staying at the X-Men school, and Diana promised Logan she'd check in on them once in a while. The younger mutants were not happy about being left behind, but they'd promised in case of emergencies, they'd help SHIELD defend the planet. And if worst came to worst, everyone was to evacuate to Wakanda.

And then it was the day. The Guardians shipped out early, the Asgardians followed them, and then it was an endless convoy of little fighter ships launching into space.

Diana hugged everyone she knew, admonished her soulmates to not-die, and received wolf-whistles from the Air Force contingent when she and Captain America shared a farewell kiss. "Don't die," she told him. "Don't do anything stupid. And don't you dare decide that space is more interesting than down here."

"Never," he said, giving her a fond grin. "Don't fall madly in love with anyone down here."

"What about a mutual geek-crush with Darcy?"

Steve made a so-so motion with his hand. "Meh." He pressed a final kiss to his soulmate's lips, and tried not to think about history repeating itself. Again.

"I love you," she said, touching his cheek gently.

"I love you," he echoed. He released her reluctantly and pulled the cowl over his head. "All right," he said. "Let's go."

Diana stood with Pepper and watched them all board their ships and head out. They waved at everyone they knew, and blew kisses to their significant others. Also at Maria Hill, Melinda Mae, and Daisy Johnson in solidarity.

And then it was just the three of them, standing in a large empty hangar.

Diana exchanged a glance with Pepper. "I stole some of Tony's Glen Livet from the Tower last week," Diana said suddenly.

"Darcy's got Jay," Pepper said.

They grabbed Laura, and the three of them sat on the Rogers' balcony and had a quiet drink before returning to real life.


	41. Chapter 41

**A/N: Not dead! Without further ado, here's the battle. I don't know why this chapter was so hard to get out. Actually I do. Uh, warnings for character death.**

A week passed. Two weeks. Coulson had practically glued himself to the long-range sensors, waiting for news. A telepath from the X-Men did manage to send a quick "All's Well" to one of the children at the school, who promptly told Diana. So at least they had that...

And then the ships started appearing, just on the edge of Alpha Centauri. Earth's sensors were barely able to reach, but the size of the army made everyone pale. There was literally a period of forty-eight hours in which all crime just, stopped. Everyone was glued to the news, just waiting.

The long-range comm activated for ten seconds. It was Steve. "We've engaged Thanos' army. Our ships are holding up well. We'll update you at end of battle." That was it.

Diana spent the rest of the day pacing, a knot of fear heavy in her stomach. No news was good news, right?

And then she felt it. The gut-wrenching, heart-breaking feeling of a soulmate in extreme distress, and then- the words on her hip began to flare with pain. She yanked her shirt up and watched in horror as Natasha's words faded to grey. "No," she whispered, falling to her knees, pressing a hand to her heart as her vision blurred out. "No, no, not Tasha..."

"Diana?" Firm hands patted her face. It was Laura, little Nate hovering nearby. "Diana, hold on, FRIDAY called medical."

"No," Diana whispered miserably, curling into a ball. "Natasha, no..." She could feel Clint's anguish through her bond, and she wept.

Laura stiffened beside her, realizing what it meant, and then pulled Diana into a hug.

Nate came over and crawled into his mother's lap, resting his head on her chest. "Sad?" he asked innocently.

"Yes baby," Laura said, blinking rapidly. "Something sad happened."

Diana barely heard them, her whole body aching with emptiness. And then to her surprise, her hip began to burn again, fiercely this time, and she felt Natasha's connection come back. She checked the soul mark - it was black. "It's okay," she gasped, grabbing Laura and Nate in a hug. "It's okay, she's alive, she's back." And then she passed out.

When she woke up, she was in her own bed. Abby and Spot were lying next to her, and Darcy was perched on the other side of the bed, working on a tablet. Her chest hurt and she felt exhausted. "Darce?" Diana croaked.

Darcy jumped. "Oh, hey, good, you're awake."

"What happened? Did we get another transmission? How long was I out?" Diana started to sit up, but was stopped by Abby's head on her chest. She reluctantly laid back down, and Abby licked her cheek in reward.

Darcy sighed. "You passed out due to soulmate-y distress, yes, we did, and you've been out for twelve hours. Scared the pants off Nate, by the way."

"Is everyone okay?" Diana demanded.

"Yes. Natasha's fine. Wanda managed to revive her."

Diana sank back into her pillow, tears of relief springing to her eyes. "And Clint?" she asked. "Is he okay?"

"Yeah."

"Good. Okay. Good." Diana tried to sit up and was foiled again by affectionate puppies. She huffed impatiently. "Anything else to report?"

"Eight casualties, of which Deadpool makes up six. But they managed to set up a defensive position on one side of the planet so we're waiting for further reports. Also, Peter is with Daredevil in Latvia, dealing with robots. They're fine."

Diana sighed. "So life as usual on this side of the solar system?"

"Basically, yep." Darcy gave her a look.

"What?"

Darcy bit her lip.

Diana shoved the dogs away gently and managed to sit against the headboard, ignoring the ache in her chest. "What?"

"Jemma Simmons checked you over, at Coulson's order."

"And?"

"And with the stress on your body of losing and regaining soulmates within such a short period, if it happens again you might have a heart attack or a stroke, or worse, and, uh, if more than one of them dies at the same time, you could, uh, also."

Diana blinked. "Oh." She took a deep breath. "Anything we can do to stop the dying bit?"

"Yes, but Jemma explains it way better than me, so I'll just go get her." Darcy left hurriedly, awkward in the face of heavy emotion.

Diana stared at Abby's golden fur, not really seeing it. There was always a risk with soulmates, because once you found them it was near impossible to live without them. And Diana having ten just multiplied that risk. But she couldn't die, not with everyone counting on the Avengers. They didn't need that trauma in the middle of a battle. And she'd promised Steve. But she didn't want to have a heart attack or a stroke either, so... "All right. Call Jemma."

The quiet English doctor came in a few moments later, obviously prepared for this. "How do you feel?" she asked softly.

Diana looked up and smiled slightly. "Not as terrible as last time."

"Good, good." Jemma checked her pulse the old-fashioned way and frowned. "Darcy told you-"

"Yeah. What's the plan?"

"Nanites."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "Okay..."

"If we inject a tiny amount of nanites into your system, they could monitor and regulate your physical responses. If someone else dies, then, ah, the nanites could deal with the responses from your nervous system and lessen the shock. Same with their revival. It would tax your body's resources to keep the nanites going though, and even with the nanites you'll have a weakened immune system, fatigue, a lot of crying..." Jemma shook her head. "I lost and regained my soulmate once too, so, I know what it feels like, and these next few months will not be fun, but, I promise I will help you through it."

Diana nodded. "All right." She played with the bracelet at her wrist absently. And then she got an idea. "What about the suit?"

"What suit?"

"Tony made me a suit that's tailored to my body. If we could alter the programming, it could keep me alive, or stable, if I pass out or something."

Jemma nodded. "That's a great idea. We can link the nanites and the suit, have them work under the same AI."

Being injected with nanites was not pleasant, and it was slightly painful as the thick, nanite-bearing liquid dispersed sluggishly through Diana's veins, but it faded after a couple of hours, and Diana went about her day as usual. Well, as usual as she could with the worry of the planet hanging over her shoulders. Plus, she was hungry every half hour. Apparently nanites had quite the appetite.

And then forty hours later Tony died.

Pepper felt it first. She collapsed, and the SHIELD agent with her grabbed Jay and managed to shove Pepper onto the nearest chair. "Breathe," the agent said gently, wincing as she saw Pepper's words grey out.

Diana felt it a second later, and the terrible shock of it made her whimper. The nanites jumped into action a moment later, and against Diana's own will, they kept her conscious and functioning. But that empty space in her heart didn't refill. The words didn't come back like Natasha's had.

Floors apart, two women sobbed.

It was a brilliant plan. Implant a small implosion device in the largest ship in Thanos' fleet. The implosion would ramp up with each successive burst of power from destroyed engines and crush all of Thanos' ships together. Iron Man in his space-ready stealth suit was the only one who could plant the device, so he did.

They weren't counting on Thanos harnessing the power of the Tesseract and turning the implosion device inside out - sending a shockwave of energy that destroyed four of Thanos' ships, yes, but also slammed into Iron Man's suit and left him wheeling through space.

The fighter ship Omega 12 zoomed in to pick him up.

Rhodey cycled the airlock as fast as he could and dragged the Iron Man suit halfway into the fighter ship. He quickly peeled the chest piece off and checked Tony's vitals. Nothing. On the outside, he looked completely undamaged from the force of the shock wave, but he wasn't breathing.

"Don't you dare do this to me, Tony!" Rhodey started CPR, pumping Tony's unmoving chest, trying to administer relief through blurry vision and shaky breaths. "C'mon, Tones, don't you dare give up, breathe, come on-" There wasn't enough room in this stupid two-person fighter ship, there wasn't enough space, there was not enough _air_ -

"Colonel Rhodes," FRIDAY said from the Iron Man suit, her voice tinged with sorrow and static. "Sir is dead. No amount of CPR could revive him. I'm reading internal injur-" The AI staticked out and went silent. The suit was dead, too.

Rhodey stopped, and leaned back on his heels, staring at Tony's white, expressionless face. "But it wasn't supposed to be this way," he whispered. "He's Iron Man."

A gentle hand on his shoulder made him startle. "I'm sorry, Col," said Lt. Michael Ferris, Rhodey's navigator.

"Omega 12, status report on Iron Man," the comm blared suddenly.

Rhodey put his hands over his face.

Ferris tapped the comm. "Omega 12 reporting in. Iron Man status, deceased. The shockwave, it, there were internal injuries."

A sharply-drawn breath on the other side of the comm, and Steve closed his eyes in grief. "Omega 12, return to base," he said after a second.

"Copy that. Omega 12 out."

Steve left the tactical room for a second and leaned against the nearest wall, taking deep breaths. Tony stark was dead. Suddenly all he could think about was Pepper and Jay, and Diana... Steve pressed a hand to his heart, feeling an answering pang from his soulmate. She knew already. And now Jay was going to grow up without a father.

His comm crackled to life in his ear. "Cap, is it true?" It was Vision.

Steve sighed. "Yes."

"No," Vision said, in disbelief.

"I'm sorry, Viz."

"No, that can't- What were his injuries?"

"We don't know."

"I'll meet the ship at the landing pad."

Steve broke into a jog to meet him there.

As soon as the fighter jet landed and the engines shut off, Vision and Steve were up the ramp and halfway into the cockpit. Steve stopped to stare in dismay at the body of his friend and brother. Vision paused to look at Tony, and then continued to the Iron Man suit. With some tech finagling, he powered the suit and FRIDAY's diagnostic capabilities.

"The shockwave was electrical in nature," FRIDAY said, after some silent scanning. Her modulated voice sounded too loud in the tiny fighter. "Sir's brainwaves just, stopped."

"And without his brain, his body died too," Steve realized.

"Yes Captain."

Steve closed his eyes. He hadn't felt grief this strong since he'd lost Bucky back in the forties.

"I tried to do CPR," Rhodey said, after a second, clearly still in shock.

"CPR," Vision mused. His eyes lit up almost literally. "CPR," he said again, "for the mind, not the heart."

"Vision?" Steve asked cautiously, hoping that Tony's creation hadn't gone off the deep end.

"I have the Mind stone, Steve," Vision said, touching his own forehead gently. "What if I could jumpstart his brain?"

"But his memories, his mind-"

"The neurons would still be set in the same patterns; it hasn't been long enough to decay."

Steve nodded. If there was any chance to save him... "Do it."

Vision took a deep simulated breath, and shot the power of the Mind stone directly into Tony's forehead at a fraction of the strength. There was a bright light, and Tony's whole body seized. Vision shut off the beam, and put his hands over Tony's temples. "I'm reading brain wave functions," he murmured. "Still no life signs though."

"CPR for real now," Steve realized, "he needs oxygen." He gestured to Rhodey and Ferris. If Cap tried to do it, he'd shatter Tony's ribcage in an instant.

Rhodey went back to doing CPR. "If you wake up you owe me so big, man," he grumbled.

Under their ministrations, Tony's chest heaved and he breathed on his own. One breath, another, and brown eyes slowly slid open. "Wha-" he croaked. "What happened?"

Steve grinned so widely his face hurt, and he dropped to his knees to pat Tony's arm. "Rhodey kissed you."

"Hey, that was the kiss of life, right there," Rhodey said, giving Vision a high-five. "Welcome back to the land of the living, Tones."

Tony tried to sit up, and felt a wave of nausea. "Ugggghhhh." He closed his eyes for a second, and then they popped open again. "Pepper!"

At the Avengers facility on Earth, Diana's nanites were working full-time to keep her vital signs stable, and Pepper passed out from the shock of regaining her romantic soulmate. Diana nearly passed out from pure exhaustion and lack of nutrients, but she managed to stay awake long enough to check her soul mark. The words on her forearm were inky black and solid. She started to cry in relief, and fell asleep mid-tear.

When she woke up, her first thought was for Pepper and Jay. She found Jay sleeping in between Abby and Ivan on the other side of the bed. A drowsy-looking SHIELD agent was sitting in the corner, one eye on the baby. "Mrs. Stark's under observation," the SHIELD agent informed her, yawning.

"Mkay." Diana closed her eyes and went back to sleep. Two soulmates in two days was too much. She didn't want to hear about anything else right now.

But it was war, and as the days passed, the list of casualties began to rise, on both sides. Sam was killed two days later on the surface of the exoplanet, defending a base of supplies. Wanda literally twisted reality to save him, surprising even herself with the extent of her powers. She put those powers to good use, her and Vision an unstoppable team against Thanos' armies.

Only six hours later, Groot got chopped off at the knees, and Bruce invented a miracle grow solution that had the tree-form up and at 'em within two days.

Reed Richards got trapped in a parallel dimension for seven hours and came back with a ray gun that could only target Chitauri. Which was useful, seeing as the Avengers' old foe had come back with their master.

Bucky died next, protecting Steve of course. It didn't make Diana or Steve feel any better about his loss. Neither did the fact that they put him in cryostasis to save him till the current offensive was over and the doctors could spare twenty-four hours of consecutive regen and surgery to heal him.

Steve promised in the update that there was hope, but all Diana could feel was the hole. From the dark circles under his eyes, she knew Steve's heart was aching too.

The Barton kids helped immensely, though. Cooper was instinctively empathetic, like his mom, and he would spend time with Diana, just sitting. And Lila and Nate were still small enough to be held and cuddled, and if they weren't with Laura they were with Diana.

Bucky stayed frozen for five days, each day a thousand times more depressing, and the shock of him returning to life thanks to twenty-eight hours of surgery (and a teeny bit of alien-blood but don't tell anyone) literally made Diana's heart stop. Like, she had a miniature heart attack before the nanites cut in and saved her life.

When she came to, the Soulmate Mark II was half-formed around her, administering oxygen through the helmet and an IV of nutrients through the gauntlet, as well as providing warmth against the shock.

Diana just wept with relief, making a small pool of tears inside the helmet. She wished more than ever that she could talk to Steve or any of her soulmates over comms, but with the distance, there was too long a delay... she would just have to hold on with everyone else.

 **A/N 2: Can't make any promises about when I'll post the next chapter, but I promise it is definitely happening. Thanks for sticking with me!**


	42. Chapter 42

**A/N: Once more unto the breach...**

"No, Ambassador, the Avengers are not losing," Diana said patiently. "The front line of the war has been pushed back by two orbits in the last two months."

The Ambassador What's-his-face continued to ramble, and Diana tuned him out. She wondered if she hung up, if he would accept 'signal loss' as a valid excuse.

Finally, the meeting wrapped up and Diana could check out for the day. She went straight to the Avengers control room and checked for an update. So far there was nothing yet. "No news is good news," Darcy reminded her.

"Yeah, yeah." Diana went to her quarters, changed into a pair of sweatpants and an oversize T-shirt, and went to find Stark Jr. He was with one of Pepper's assistants who'd gladly turned to babysitting duties instead of fielding irate board members.

"Good morning Mrs. Rogers," the babysitter said cheerfully.

"Good morning, Amy," Diana replied, and made a beeline for the chubby baby in the playpen. "Jay, my sweetheart," she cooed, picking him up.

He squealed happily and gurgled.

"Who's the cutest baby in the world?" Diana asked, nuzzling the little fat rolls on his neck.

"Aaabababaaa," he babbled, and grabbed a fistful of Diana's hair.

She kissed his cheek and propped him on her hip. She turned to Amy. "I'm going to take him for a bit if you want to take a break."

Amy nodded.

Diana played with him till Pepper finished work and then they ate Chinese takeout with the Bartons and the Langs and Hank. Peter, poor kid, was out on patrol. He wasn't sleeping a lot and Mary Jane was doing most of his homework for him, but Peter was loving the action, and he and the Defenders made quite the team.

Diana enjoyed the evening with everyone and then turned in early. She'd been in a state of permanent exhaustion since the start of the war, and tonight it was like the gravity was getting heavier with every passing second.

She collapsed on the bed, completely drained of energy. "FRIDAY?" she managed to murmur. "Biofeedback? What's wrong with me?"

FRIDAY started to reply but Diana never heard the end of it.

When she came to, there was a nurse standing next to her bed, checking something on a tablet. "Oh, you're awake," the nurse said, surprised. "I wasn't expecting you to be up so soon."

"Wh?" Diana got out, and closed her eyes. It was too tiring to talk.

The nurse patted her hand sympathetically. "You're reacting to the way your soulmate died, dear. It's going to be okay."

Diana's eyes snapped open. "Died! What? Who?!"

Now the nurse looked uncomfortable. "I don't know, Mrs. Rogers, I wasn't given permission to view your soul marks."

Diana started tearing at her clothes, trying to find the greyed-out mark. She almost fell before she managed to brace her feet on the floor and stumble to the nearest mirror. "They're all black," she said, crying in relief. "They're all alive, they're okay." But the pain and the exhaustion were still there, and she nearly passed out again. "I don't understand," she said numbly, letting the nurse tuck her back into bed. "Were they already revived?"

FRIDAY spoke up. "If I may, the only one of the Avengers who was on the casualty list in Sam Wilson."

Diana gaped at the ceiling. " _Sam_? But we're not soulmates... right?"

"Not to my knowledge, Mrs. Rogers."

Diana put a hand on her head and closed her eyes. She fell asleep before she could think about it, and when she awoke, her mother was sitting by her side, reading a book. "Sam?" Diana asked, and coughed. Her throat felt parched but otherwise she felt normal.

Her mother patted her arm gently. "He's alive. We just got the update."

"But, how were we linked?" Diana sat up carefully, and checked her marks again. They were all vibrant and black. "Sam doesn't have any soulmates, he told me."

"Are you sure?"

Diana shrugged helplessly. "It's not like any of us can be shy after everybody was body swapped. I don't know."

Mrs. Lawrence helped her sit up. "All right, let's check. Maybe you didn't notice it?"

"But I've known Sam for years," Diana said, letting her mom inspect her back. She started to braid her hair over her shoulder absently. "I couldn't have one, because Steve would have seen it, and I didn't feel one come in, and-"

"Diana."

"Yeah?"

"This freckle." Mrs. Lawrence poked at it, in the very center of Diana's lower back.

"Uh huh?"

"It says 'hey.'"

" _What_?" Diana tried to twist around to see, but as she was neither mutant nor gymnast, it didn't work and she only strained her neck. "What?" she repeated.

"Yeah, in really teeny letters." Mrs. Lawrence had her reading glasses on and was squinting mightily. "No wonder you or Steve never noticed. I can barely make it out."

"FRIDAY, pic and enlarge?" Diana asked, leaning forward so the room's sensors could scan it.

A holo-screen popped up with a picture of Diana's back, the freckle blown up to readable size. It really was a tiny soul mark, and in beautiful little calligraphy, it said 'Hey.'

Diana gaped at it, and reached back to poke at it. It didn't feel any different now that she knew of its existence, just, warm and fuzzy, like all the other ones. She smiled. "Huh. No wonder we got along so well."

"Do you remember when you first met Sam?" her mother pressed.

"Uh...yeah. It was, while they were looking for the sceptre, Sam came back with the team and Steve finally introduced us." Diana smiled as she remembered that day.

 _Diana had been waiting for the Avengers to get back, and scolded Clint for forgetting to duck. She kissed Steve, and then he introduced her to the guy with the wings. "Diana, this is Sam. Sam, my soulmate."_

 _"The one you've talked about nonstop?" Sam asked Steve teasingly, and then turned to Diana. "Hey."_

 _She grinned and shook his hand. "Hi."_

 _Steve was beaming like a proud idiot that his two friends were getting along, and they both laughed at him._

 _"Have you been introduced to our snack machine?" Diana asked Sam. "It's an AI that can read your cravings. Tony made it for post-mission briefings. His name is Fred."_

 _"That sounds amazing."_

"And that was it," Diana said simply. "He just kind of became part of the family."

"Well that's why," Mrs. Lawrence said, poking at the freckle and tickling Diana's ribs.

She shrieked and giggled. " _Mooommmmm_ ," she whined.

Mrs. L. kissed her head. "I'm glad he's okay."

"Me too." Diana cuddled into her mother's embrace, feeling vulnerable. Now, that accounted for their easy tag-teaming of Steve and anyone else that needed some gentle counseling. And, why her offer to talk about nightmares had never gone unanswered. She wondered if he had an illegible freckle on his back somewhere, too. "I can't believe it took him dying for us to figure it out," she fretted.

"I know dear. But he's alive."

Diana nodded, and felt a surge of anxiety for all her soulmates. "FRIDAY, can I get the updates?"

Another holo-screen popped up with statistics and lists. It was there she found the casualty list. Sam had been caught in one of the negative energy pulses from the orb, and in trying to escape it with his squadron, had been literally drained of energy. That explained the exhaustion Diana had felt, and why it masked the emptiness of losing her soulmate. But only five minutes after he'd died, Thor had brought them all back to life by striking the Orb with Mjolnir. He'd dented the exo-planet, but everyone in the squadron had recovered.

Diana tapped out a quick message to Steve to be put in the next transmission packet to the Avengers. "Hi honey. We're still good here. Tell Sam if he dies again I'll kill him myself. By the way, ask him to check for tiny freckles that might spell 'hi,' because we're 99% sure the two of us are soulmates." She attached a picture of her tiny soul mark. "Probably looks like that," she added. "I love you Steve. Give my love to everyone else. Come back safe."

Steve, when he received the message, hollered for Sam. "What?" Sam demanded, still weak after his not-death. "What's going on?"

"Freckles," Steve demanded. "Do you have any?"

"Well yeah. Why?"

"One of them might be a soul mark."

Sam's eyes widened. "Uh, no? I don't have soulmates."

Steve showed him the message from Diana. "Then how come my wife almost died when you did?"

Sam gaped. "You know, that would explain some things." He pulled off his shirt. "Check my back."

Steve found the tiny 'hi' on Sam's back, three quarters of the way down his spine. "Yep, it says 'hi'," Steve said, squinting at it.

"Huh." Sam grinned. "Cool. I guess I have a soulmate."

"Now you can't make fun of our co-dependency issues anymore," Steve informed him smugly.

Sam scowled. "Oh come on man."

"Ha."

Natasha walked into the room and stopped to stare. "What are you guys doing?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "Not that I have a problem with a shirtless Falcon, but this is no time to be comparing abs."

"Sam and Diana are soulmates," Steve informed her, grinning.

"And nobody noticed till now?" Natasha asked skeptically.

"That's cuz we're super low-key," Sam said. "Our relationship is all about normal things, because we are normal people."

"Uh-huh." Natasha gave him a small smile. "Welcome to the family, Sam."

"Thanks."

Steve slung an arm around Sam's shoulder, grinning. "I knew you stuck around after DC for a reason."

"Sure, sure, hindsight's twenty-twenty, whatever Cap. Now I should go make sure my armor's 110%. I've got a soulmate to look after now." Sam headed out.

"Yeah!" Steve yelled after him. "Die again and you're busted, mister!"

Deadpool heard the last exchange walking by, and glanced up at the reader. "See, this is why I love existing in a comic book universe," he said. "Nobody ever really stays dead." He continued down the hall.

The day Pietro died (he ran over a landmine with supersonic explosives), Wanda decimated Thanos' ground forces in her grief, and with the help of Doctor Strange, she pulled his form back from the weave of the multiverse. The twins wept in each other's arms when they were reunited, and on Earth, Diana had a terrifying vision of what might have happened if Wanda had gone mad with grief. The doctors had to sedate her, until Wanda's powers calmed down and stopped echoing through their soulmate bond.

When Diana woke up after five days, Cassie was sitting by her bedside with Antony, and drawing her a get-well card. Cassie was not opposed to snuggling with Diana and watching a Disney movie. Antony had to stay on the floor though.

It wasn't a week later that a small army of aliens blasted through Earth's defense network and headed straight for the Avengers facility.

As soon as they got the signal, the Soulmate and Rescue suits were building around Diana and Pepper, and Hank Pym was pulling a new Ant-Man suit from his workshop. Ants began to pour out of the ground at alarming rates, and Peter was summoned back from New York.

He got there just in time to get whacked in the face with a giant green flame-throwing cannon extending from one of the spaceships. "Okay, not cool!" he yelled, swinging back around to join the other three.

"Spider-man, call it," Diana said, taking a deep breath to stay calm. As long as the facility itself was not breached, everything would be fine.

Peter nodded. "Rescue, you and me are front and center. Soul, you and Ant-Man are on containment. We've got to keep them away from the facility."

Diana was very glad that the suit practically drove itself, and she only needed to aim the repulsors and the things.

Turns out, the aliens did not like ants, and once Pym started spraying droves of ants with Pym particles and enlarging them, the aliens retreated hastily from the front doors of the facility.

FRIDAY was controlling the facility's defense systems, and once the aliens were distracted by the ants and the two flying suits, she started hammering at the ships with the cannons that rose from the ground.

"Did you know we had that?" Diana asked Peter, dumbfounded.

"Nope," Peter said cheerfully, clambering on top of one of the alien ships and shooting webs at the flame throwing cannon-things. "Uh, these things are very hot. My webs are melting right off."

Pepper swooped in and blasted the cannon clean off the ship. "No problem."

"Awesome."

The aliens started to disembark, and then the Baby-Avengers were outnumbered four to hundreds. "Uh...now would be a good time for backup," Peter said nervously.

SHIELD arrived twenty minutes later, Coulson in the lead, and the battle was over.

"You're late," Diana wheezed, dropping down next to the quinjet.

"Sorry, we had to stop for the freeze-rays," Coulson said breezily. "Not bad for your first time in the suit."

"Thanks."

The aliens were rounded up and put back in their ships in cryostasis. SHIELD launched the ships back in the general direction of their home planet.

"So, what do we do with the giant ants?" Peter asked, eyeing the Golden-Retriever sized insects that were literally everywhere.

Cassie, it must be noted, was in ant-heaven right now. So were the dogs, who were overjoyed to have more multi-legged playmates.

Hank Pym smirked. "I'm going to shrink them and send them back. Except Antony the Second, of course."

"Of course," Diana said.

The ants were re-sized, the landscape crew called to fix the grass, and the threat was over. For now.

Everyone agreed that there was no need to tell the Avengers what had happened, since everything turned out okay.

Coulson did give Diana and Pepper small trophies to commemorate the event though, since it was their first time physically saving the world. "Least-destructive superhero debut of all time," was on both their gold trophies.

"I don't get one?" Peter asked, pouting.

"Your first foray as Spider-man almost brought down a bridge and a skyscraper in one day," Coulson reminded him.

"Oh yeah. Never mind."

And then the worst happened. Thanos trapped Vision in a chamber of dwarf-star alloy, and ripped the Mindstone from his body. With four out of the six Infinity Stones, Thanos had enough power to destroy two-thirds of the universe. And so, he did.

Earth and the rest of the solar system were wiped out in a rippling wave of destruction that claimed three other civilizations and a nebula.

The Avengers had no time to even process the loss of their soulmates and their species as they scrambled to mount a defense.

Thanos, his objective fulfilled, headed back to his domain, leaving a trail of destruction in his wake.

Crammed into what ships they had left, towed by the Milano, Earth's heroes followed.

It was a desperate two months of fighting that gained them access to Thanos' inner sanctum, where he sat and changed the universe with a flick of his wrist.

"Persistent worms, aren't you?" Thanos rumbled, standing to his full height to face the heroes.

The only ones left were Steve, Wanda, Thor, Deadpool, Hulk, and Wolverine. Everyone else was fighting in the rest of the base, or dead. Right now, Steve couldn't even tell you which was which.

"Give it up, Thanos," Captain America said firmly.

The Titan just laughed. "I hold the universe in my palm. Why should I do so? Tell me Captain. How does it feel to have lost your soulmate?"

The grey words on his chest ached as he was reminded of his loss, and Cap's blue eyes turned a steely gray with anger. "Don't," he said harshly.

"The universe is mine to do with as I please," Thanos taunted him. "I could bring her back now, find out myself what makes her so special."

Cap's jaw tightened. "You won't get that chance." And he attacked with such fury and intensity that Thanos was knocked back a step.

The others joined him in the offensive, fighting for the fate of the universe, for the loved ones that they had lost, and with a powerful punch, the Hulk managed to smack the gauntlet right off Thanos' wrist.

The gems on the glove glowed briefly and then dimmed.

Thanos roared in anger and lurched forward to regain the gauntlet. Wanda picked up the gauntlet with her telekinesis and threw it to the other side of the room. She couldn't manipulate it further, and had to drop it, the energy from the gems causing too much feedback.

Deadpool grabbed it, and died twice from the overwhelming amount of power coursing through the gauntlet before he managed to take it off. He threw it- "Catch!" he yelled at Cap gleefully.

Steve caught the gauntlet in his shield like the world's most powerful lacrosse player, and glanced at Thor, wondering if he could wield it.

Thor shook his head, and summoned a blast of lightning to keep Thanos at bay. "Mjolnir has sensed your worthiness before," Thor bellowed. "You must be the one!"

Steve grit his teeth and grabbed the gauntlet. The energy burned through his veins, and he saw the universe – as it was, as it is, and as it could be. He almost lost himself in the infinite majesty of it all, and he could feel the temptation to change things just because he could. But that way lay madness, and Thanos, and he would not dare. Instead he thought about Diana, his love, his soulmate, and how he wished he could just go home.

Before his eyes, the universe started to change. The solar system popped back into existence, and his skin burned as Diana and Bucky came back into existence, the fabric of the universe righting itself. He turned to face the others, and knew by their expressions they could feel it too. And then he turned to Thanos, who was standing stock-still to see the destruction of Steve Rogers. "Who has the power now?" Steve taunted him.

Thanos moved forward in anger, and Steve lifted the gauntlet. Hit with the full power of the infinity stones, Thanos simply stopped. He turned into stone, a simple mortal against Medusa's might, and that was that.

Steve could see a figure in the dimensions (Doctor Strange?) gesturing towards a portal in a black hole. Steve picked up Thanos and threw him towards it. The portal sealed behind the titan, and the metaphysical figure vanished into the mist. He demanded his people back from death, and they began to appear on the base as Thanos' army began to dissolve from existence. The Chitauri vanished once and for all, and the rest ran and hid from the power of the gauntlet.

Steve could see more, infinite possibilities, infinite combinations, but a small warm light in his heart reminded him of home. He ripped the gauntlet from his hand, and dropped it on the floor. He stumbled away from it, and was caught by Thor.

The four infinity stones tumbled from their settings on the glove, and dimmed. They were dormant.

It was over.

 **A/N: Whew. Okay. Intense. While I was writing this, I think I literally stopped breathing for a bit. *sigh* Now for the aftermath...**


	43. Chapter 43

**A/N: Immediate aftermath of last chapter...:**

The first thing they did was get the Mindstone back to Vision. He'd been able to survive without the Mindstone's power, but it was decided that the Mindstone was safer in his hands, er, forehead.

The next thing they did was make sure Steve wasn't about to dissolve from the inside out because he handled the gauntlet (he was fine).

And then they hijacked Thanos' communication equipment and signaled Earth to make sure it was still there and the whole not-existing for two months' thing hadn't caused permanent damage.

Coulson assured the relieved Avengers that no one had noticed anything. With the official part complete, he turned from super-agent to friend. "When are you coming home?" he asked.

"As soon as we can," Steve assured him. "How's Diana? Can I talk to her?"

Coulson grimaced. "That's not possible right now. These last two months drained her. Half of you died, and then came back, and we all died and came back, and then the other half of you died, and-"

"What happened?" Steve demanded, suddenly afraid. "How is she?"

The agent sighed. "She's in a coma, Steve. From your report, it sounds like as soon as you picked up the gauntlet, she just, couldn't take it anymore and her body just shut down."

Steve stared at the screen, a low buzzing filling his ears. "No," he said numbly, gripping the sides of the console so hard it cracked. "No, I would've noticed, we would've felt something-"

"She's alive and breathing on her own," Coulson assured him. "Besides extreme stress and fatigue, she's physically fine. She just, has retreated from the world temporarily. We brought in one of the young mutants from the school who is an empath and she reads this as a self-defense mechanism. Diana just needs some time to recover from the last five months. And she really, really, needs her soulmates."

Steve bowed his head to stare at the alien keyboard. "We're coming," he said, his voice rough with emotion. "I swear, we'll be there as fast as we can."

"I know, Steve."

The super soldier looked up at Coulson, looking desperately lost. "Can you tell her we're on our way, and, to hang on, and, I love her?"

"Of course," Coulson said compassionately.

"Thank you." Steve fumbled with the sign-off, and the comm system finally shut down. He stood there for a moment, trying to wrap his head around the news, and his knees buckled. He slid down the nearest wall and hid his face in his hands. It was his fault. He'd put his wife in a coma...

Bucky found him like that ten minutes later. "Steve?" He knelt in front of the unresponsive man. "Steve?"

One flesh hand and one metal hand carefully pried Steve's hands away from his face. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, unable to even face telling the team.

"Steve?" Bucky asked again, now seriously panicking. "Are you hurt? Bad news? Earth's still there, right? Coulson's alive? Peter? Diana?"

Steve flinched.

Bucky froze, consciously did not tighten his grip on Steve's wrists, and took a deep breath. "What happened to Diana?" he asked calmly.

"She's in a coma, Buck," Steve whispered, tipping his head back to rest on the cold metal wall.

Bucky had to sit down next to him. "What?"

Steve brokenly explained what had happened, and added, "It's my fault. I was the straw that broke the camel's back."

Bucky grabbed him fiercely. "You were _not_ ," he half-growled. "It was Thanos, and it was that stupid gauntlet. It was _not_ your fault, Steve." He dragged his brother to his feet. "Now you're going to go out there and kick everybody into gear, because we need to get back to Earth _yesterday_." He slapped Steve on the back. "She's waiting for us, Steve, that's all it is. Let's go home."

Steve took a deep breath to steady himself, and nodded firmly. "Let's go home."

Captain America and the Winter Soldier walked out of the comm room. Steve took charge of packing up, and Bucky gave himself the task of telling the others about Diana. The ones who didn't know Diana plaintively wondered why everyone was in such an all-fired rush, and why the Winter Soldier was hovering around Captain America like a protective mama bear.

It took the Avengers and co. another full month to get back to Earth. In the meantime, they healed themselves and made repairs to their ships. Tony was in tech-heaven on the Milano, and the whole month, they maybe saw him and Rocket for five minutes' tops.

The Asgardians escorted them back to Earth, and then returned to their realm with the Tesseract and the Aether in their possession. The Orb went into safekeeping with an immortal being who lived in the middle of a time rift.

On Earth, there was rejoicing. Well, for five minutes there was rejoicing and then in true human fashion, everyone returned to their daily lives. Including all the villains, who'd waited to see the fate of the universe before inflicting themselves on the rest of humanity.

And in a private room in the medical ward at the Avengers facility, Mrs. Lawrence held vigil beside her unconscious daughter. The doctors had determined that Diana could hear, so Mrs. Lawrence read her Shakespeare and Jane Austen and _Ivanhoe_ , and played Diana's favorite music in the background.

Abby was a staunch guardian, and refused to leave the room except for bodily functions. She would lay on the foot of Diana's bed and bark at anyone coming in, and sometimes she would crawl up to the head of the bed and lick Diana's cheek.

Spot picked a spot on the top of the heart monitor and refused to leave either. If it was affection for Diana or interest in the blinky lights, no one could be sure.

Everyone else took turns sitting with Diana, or bringing in the kids and talking about school, or chatting about local agent gossip, celebrity gossip, politics, and Daredevil's shenanigans.

Darcy came to paint Diana's nails and put on 'While You Were Sleeping.' "I'm not making fun of you, I swear," Darcy said, adding a second coat of wicked Black Widow red (yes they all had their own nail polish colors) to Diana's fingers. "This is just your favorite movie. It was either this or Indiana Jones and the doctor said it was important to keep you calm. Oh, and you have twenty thousand new followers on social media. Apparently, dogs dressed in Avengers costumes are too cute."

There was no reply.

Darcy sighed.

 _Diana was existing inside a nice cozy library. Every book she'd ever read was here, and sometimes she'd hear echoes of her favorite stories. She'd read along with the familiar voice; Shakespeare, Austen, Walter Scott. Her library even had her favorite songs._

 _There were other voices too, familiar and warm. But they weren't the ones Diana was looking for, so she let them drone on in the background while she nestled in amongst blankets and piles of books. She was so tired, and it was so warm in the library..._

The heroes' triumphant return was marred by the absence of Diana. All the Avengers were anxious to get back to her side so they could all be together, and everyone wanted to see their families. So, Rhodey graciously stepped up to the plate on behalf of the Avengers and the armed forces, and spoke to the press. Everyone else ran away.

Steve barreled into the facility, the others at his heels, and made a beeline for the med ward. He paused to hug Mrs. Lawrence, who was standing outside Diana's room. "How is she?" he asked.

"The same," Mrs. Lawrence said. She gave him a soft smile. "Go on in."

" _Just_ Captain Rogers," the nurse intervened, giving the rest of them the stink-eye.

Diana's soulmates awkwardly lined the halls and huddled outside the doors while Steve went in alone.

His breath caught as he went in and saw Diana lying on the bed. She was pale, and the dark circles under eyes were a vivid purple. She'd lost weight in the last six months, and her fingernails were a bright pink. He noticed all these details, but most of all he noticed the stillness of her face.

He moved forward quietly and sank into the chair at her bedside. He leaned forward to take her hand. "Hey beautiful," he said softly, kissing her knuckles. "I'm back. I came home safe, like I promised. We all did."

Her heart rate jumped slightly, and Spot eyed the brainwave monitor curiously as the readings spiked momentarily.

Steve waited for any response, but she didn't even twitch. He sighed and pressed his lips to her knuckles again. "If you were awake I'd kiss you," he continued. He squeezed her hand tightly. "Six months is a long time. I missed you so much, Diana. Your laugh, and your smile, and the little scrunch in your nose when you're reading, and the way you can make everybody pay attention even when Captain America can't." He rested his forehead against her hand. "You should've seen it, Diana. We won. Against all of Thanos' army. Everyone was so brave. You are gonna be so proud of everyone when you wake up." He sobered. "I'm sorry we put you through all this. I hope, I mean, I really need you to come back to me." He stood up and leaned forward to press a kiss to her pale lips. "I love you."

Her hand twitched.

He let out a 'whoa' of surprise, and squeezed her hand lightly. "Diana? Can you hear me?" he asked hopefully.

There was no other movement.

He sighed. "Okay. You rest, sweetheart. I promise, one of us is going to be here at all times." He kissed her forehead gently and smoothed her hair back from her face.

Steve reluctantly let her go and moved to open the door. "Who wants to come in?"

A few people at a time, Diana's soulmates came to say hello, and squeeze her hand. Wanda cried a bit. So did Natasha, but Clint was her only witness and he kept silent. Bucky promised Diana he wouldn't let Steve waste away while she was sleeping.

 _Diana's library seemed less appealing now than the warm loving voices from outside, but her heart was tired, and it was much safer to stay inside and drift than deal with all the emotions floating outside her door..._

Three days passed. The Milano headed back out into space, its duty to the universe fulfilled for now.

Steve hadn't left Diana's bedside yet.

It was midnight on the fourth day when he cried. "Please, doll, I need you to wake up," he whispered brokenly, his forehead resting against her arm as he slumped partly over the bed. "Please, Diana, I need you."

 _A sad tinge of light invaded Diana's sanctuary. She put away her books and looked outside. Steve was there. Wonderful, perfect Steve. He was back! He was sad... Diana's heart ached for her soulmate, and she pushed against the dense fog that surrounded her comfortable library. "I'm coming, Steve," she promised silently. "Don't be sad."_

Steve looked up when the monitors beeped, registering the change in status. Abby got up from the foot of the bed and started to wag her tail. "Diana?" he asked cautiously, searching her face for any movement. He squeezed her hand lightly. "Diana?"

Her fingers pressed against his, ever so gently.

He stiffened, and his breath froze. "Diana?" he asked again, leaning closer. "Can you hear me?"

She sighed heavily, and ever so slowly, her eyelids fluttered open. She blinked once, twice, blinked again, and then focused on Steve's hopeful face. "Love you," she whispered faintly, squeezing his hand.

Tears of happiness started to roll down his face, and he gently hugged her close. "I love you too," he breathed, kissing her forehead, and then peppering her face with kisses. "I love you so much."

She reached up to touch his cheek, her hand trembling with the effort. "Why are you sad?" she asked. "Did we win?"

Steve laughed. "Yeah, we won." He kissed her lightly on the lips and cupped her cheek with his hand.

She responded eagerly and sighed wistfully when he pulled back. "M'so tired," she said, closing her eyes briefly.

"I know," he said, smoothing her hair. "You can go to sleep for now, sweetheart."

"You'll stay?" she asked.

"Always."

"Mkay." She smiled drowsily. "Tell mom, she does a good Scottish accent. And tell Darcy she was totally making fun of me." She fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Steve was still standing there beaming at her when Tony walked in to the room. "All right, Steve, it's been four days and you haven't moved," Tony announced. "You've gotta sleep sometime, and give somebody else a turn. Plus, your namesake needs some quality cuddles from his uncle, so, out."

Steve just grinned at him.

"What?"

"She woke up," Steve informed him.

Tony's jaw dropped. "What! When?"

"Just right now, just for a few minutes, but she's awake, Tony, she's back." Steve couldn't stop smiling.

Tony's eyes shone. "Good. That's great." He clapped Steve on the arm. "Now that we know she's going to be okay, you can get some rest."

"I promised I'd stay," Steve protested.

"Then we'll get a couch in here," Tony replied. "But you gotta sleep before you collapse, Steve."

"Fine."

When Diana woke up again, Steve was on a futon in the corner snoring fit to wake the dead, and Sam was sitting in the big armchair by her side.

"Hey," Sam said, grinning at her.

She coughed lightly and grinned back. "Hi."

They both laughed, and Sam leaned forward to take her hand. "I'm really glad you're awake," he said.

"I'm really glad you're back safe," she replied, and grinned. "Soulmate."

"Soulmate," he acknowledged. He helped her sit up to drink some water.

"How is everyone?" Diana asked eagerly, once she'd shifted back under the covers. "Everyone okay?"

"Yep."

"No permanent injuries?"

"Nope."

"And their morale?" Diana asked.

"Right now, everyone's really worried about you, but other than that, still riding the victory high." Sam smiled. "Did Steve tell you how we won?"

"No, I wasn't awake enough. Tell me?"

Sam proceeded to do just that, and finished the glorious finale by pointing triumphantly at the still-snoring Steve. "That guy, saved the universe."

Diana smiled and shook her head, speechless. "Wow."

"So, we completely understand how you would be overwhelmed," Sam continued, glancing at her sideways.

"That definitely explains it," Diana murmured. She rubbed at her forehead. "I can't believe it's been a month."

"One month, four days," Sam confirmed. "But hey, you earned the time off."

"Yeah." She sighed, tired again. "I just need a waking vacation, now."

Steve turned over on the narrow futon and promptly crashed on the floor. "Ow?" he said, trying to untangle himself from the blankets and sit up. He finally managed to extricate himself and stood up, running a hand through his hair. "Um, hi," he said sheepishly.

Sam snickered. "Smooth." He stood up. "How about I get you guys some breakfast?" And he scooted out the door.

Steve walked over to sit on the edge of the bed. "You're awake," he said softly, taking her hand.

"Yes I am." She tugged him closer, and curled into his chest. "Sam told me how you saved the universe," she said softly.

Steve held her tighter. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" She craned her neck to look up at him.

He avoided her gaze. "It was my fault-"

She reached up and placed a hand over his mouth. "Don't even start," she told him firmly. She moved her hand to trace the line of his jaw. "This whole coma thing was not your fault. If you want to blame someone, blame Thanos for being a psychopath." She gestured to herself. "This could happen to anyone who has a soulmate, let alone eleven of them." She hugged him tight and rested her head on his heart. "The last six months, ugh. I missed all of you so much, and I was so worried..." She closed her eyes as tears of relief began to sting her eyes. "Let's just focus on the here and now, please?"

He pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I can do that."

There was a quick tap on the door. "Can I come in?" Sam asked, poking his head in cautiously. "I've got breakfast."

"Yay food," Diana said cheerfully, but didn't move from her place on Steve's chest. For one, she was too comfortable, and two, she'd seriously lost her muscle strength after a month of unconsciousness. "Okay," she said, after a few moments lamenting the waste of all her training, "a little help please."

Steve solved the problem by leaning the bed up, and pulling her against his chest for support. "How's that?" he asked.

She squeezed his hand lightly. "Good."

Sam had brought toast, bacon, and rice pudding for Diana, and three plates of eggs for Steve. For himself, he brought a stack of pancakes and bacon. "After breakfast, your doctor wants to go over physical therapy," Sam advised.

Diana groaned. "I don't like the sound of that."

Sam laughed. "Nobody does, but you've gotta make up the muscle mass you lost. Don't worry though. You were in good condition before, so that helped a lot." He reached out to pat her foot. "And in the meantime, you've got eleven devoted servants."

Diana grinned. "Well when you put it like that..."

There was a lot of emotions and cuddling going around for the next few days, and everyone developed a severe case of separation anxiety. Clint, Scott, and Rhodey had to join Diana for certain physical therapy tasks, still recovering from the six months of accumulated injuries.

Diana was enjoying her vacation though, free of international politics and decisions about the fate of the world. With Tony, Steve, Prof Xavier, T'Challa, and Reed making decisions as a group, there was no need to stress about any of it. She gained all her previous weight and muscle tone back by the end of the year, and she was helping her soulmates process their experiences in what the media had dubbed 'The Infinity Wars.'

 **A/N: Big changes coming next chapter...**


	44. Chapter 44

**A/N: Whew. I think this might be the second-to-last chapter, guys. And all of you who reviewed asking for this one thing, your patience has been rewarded. Thanks for sticking with me this far!**

Diana threw up for the third time that week. "Okay," she groaned, wiping her mouth with a piece of toilet paper, "it's definitely not the leftovers from three days ago."

Wanda handed her a cup of water and a damp towel. "Maybe it's stress?" she asked uncertainly.

It had been a week since Diana had gone back to work. Three months from the end of the Infinity Wars. "Maybe," Diana said, after she'd rinsed and spit. "Walk with me to the med ward?"

"Of course."

As soon as they left the bathroom, they bumped into Steve. "FRIDAY told me you were sick?" he asked, concerned.

"I think I've got the stomach flu this year," Diana said, resigned to it. She traded Wanda's arm for Steve's.

"Let me know," Wanda requested worriedly.

"Right away," Diana promised. "If I'm contagious we'll need to move the Bartons back to their house. Don't want Nate getting the pukies."

"Again," Steve added.

"That was his own fault for eating three bags of gummy bears," Diana said, rolling her eyes.

Their entrance into the med ward was heralded by concern, and Dr. Abramson ushered them into a room. "All right," she said, taking Diana's pulse, "Bruce told me you threw up yesterday, I'm assuming it hasn't stopped?"

"It feels like stomach flu," Diana replied, and let the doctor take her temperature and inspect her throat.

"MAX, full body scan?" Dr. Abramson requested.

MAX was the Medical Assistant X-aminer AI that Tony had built to reduce the need for medics in the field. The little portable MAX unit scanned Diana from the corner, and beeped. "Analysis complete," the soothing young woman's voice announced, and sent the results to Dr. Abramson's tablet.

The doctor motioned for Diana to lie back. "Let me feel your abdomen," she said, lifting Diana's shirt. "Any pain lately?"

"Not really. That whole area feels hard though, like I'm bloated." Diana glanced at Steve while the doctor was pressing gently on her lower stomach. He looked worried, and she sent him a reassuring smile.

"So, it's not the stomach flu," the doctor said, smoothing Diana's shirt back down and helping her sit up.

"Was it the suspicious leftovers?" Diana asked, frowning. "I knew it."

Dr. Abramson smiled slightly. "No." She patted Diana's hand. "I'm not surprised you didn't notice sooner, since your period stopped four months into the Infinity Wars because of stress. I'm happy to say you won't be getting it for another seven months, at least."

Diana's jaw dropped. "What?" she asked, afraid she'd misunderstood the doctor's words.

"You're pregnant," the doctor said, smiling. "Eight weeks exactly."

"Pregnant?" Diana echoed numbly, placing her hand on her stomach. "I'm..." she looked at Steve. "Pregnant?" she said.

He had turned white as a sheet, his gaze fixed on Diana's midsection. "We're going to have a baby?" he asked, his mind whirling. His knees suddenly lost all power, and he stumbled to sit beside Diana on the bed. "What."

"Yeah," Diana said, half-dazed.

Dr. Abramson smiled at the pair of them. "I'll let you have a minute," she said, and excused herself.

Diana reached out to hold Steve's hand and intertwined their fingers. All she could think about was the tiny, pinhead-sized life growing inside her body. Her mind flashed forward to the future, and she imagined the two of them standing over a white crib, staring down at a bundle of blankets. "Steve."

"Yeah." He still sounded out of it.

She started to smile. "We're going to have a baby."

He lost the dazed look and suddenly started to beam. "We're going to have a baby," he repeated, grinning from ear to ear. He swept her up in his arms and kissed her gently. "I love you so much," he whispered, burying his face in her shoulder.

She ran her fingers through his hair and leaned into his arms. "Love you," she whispered into his ear, and kissed his jaw.

Steve chuckled a few minutes later.

"What?"

"Everyone's going to freak out," he said, grinning.

Diana grimaced. If they'd been protective before, her soulmates were going to be insanely over-protective now. "What if we hold off on telling them for a couple weeks?" she suggested.

Steve shook his head. "Wouldn't work. Wanda and Bruce, and probably Natasha, are going to figure it out the next time you run to the bathroom."

Diana made a face. "Good point." She didn't really want to hide it from anyone, anyways. "Okay." She slid off the bed and straightened her blouse. "Let's do it."

"Wait," Steve said, pulling her into a hug. He took a deep breath, kissed her cheek, and stepped back. "Okay. Now we can go."

They called a meeting in the living room, and within ten minutes, all of the Avengers were present. "So, it's not the flu," Diana said cheerfully.

Sam smirked. "I told you not to eat the chimichanga leftovers, Di."

Diana took a deep breath and squeezed Steve's hand. "We're pregnant," she announced.

There was silence for two seconds, and then Wanda squealed. "You're having a baby!" she shrieked, rushing forward to hug Diana.

Bucky moved forward to hug Steve. "Congrats," he said, the grin on his face matching Steve's.

Everyone else moved in with a flurry of congratulations, hugs, kisses, and questions. "When are you due?" "Did you find out just now?" "How far along are you?"

Diana smiled at the sheer joy coming from her soulmates, and answered their questions. "Eight weeks, yes, and in July."

Tony grinned. "Whenever you want to borrow Jay, you can. You better start practicing with diapers and things."

Steve grinned. "Thank you Tony, so helpful."

Vision spoke up. "Have you decided what you'll do about the Avengers?"

"What about it?" Diana asked.

"You can't continue as Head of Accountability and take care of your child," Vision said simply. "With eleven soulmates, and a pregnancy, your body isn't physically capable of handling that much stress."

Natasha, Clint, and Scott glared at him for lack of tact.

Diana simply stared at him, completely taken aback. Vision was completely right. "I guess... I'll go back on vacation?" she said uncertainly. "Until after the baby is born, and then-" She thought about the long hours, the worries, the constant alerts. She didn't want to split her attention like that, didn't want to neglect her child like that. In such a high-pressure job, it was all or nothing, and her baby would be left with nothing. "No, I can't," she realized. She rested a hand over where she knew the baby was growing inside her. "I can't be Head of Accountability anymore," she declared, and glanced at Steve.

He nodded soberly, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"What are we going to do then?" Rhodey asked. "The governments still want us supervised."

Tony cleared his throat. "I've got an idea."

They all turned to look at him. "Well?" Steve asked.

"Don't rush me," Tony said, starting to pace. "Okay. So, while Diana was recuperating, Steve, Charles, T'Challa, Reed, and me were making decisions right? What if we formed like, a council? We've got the leader of the Avengers, we've got the king of Wakanda, we've got the Director of SHIELD, that's me, we've got the leader of Fantastic Four, and we've got the leader of the X-Men."

"Okay," Steve said, his brow furrowed in thought, "go on."

"We could add Black Bolt, to represent the Inhumans, because they're a big part of the superpower world now, and it's better to have them with us than independent. And we'll add Stephen, to represent the whole, metaphysical deal. And Diana could have total access and tell us when we're being idiots." Tony grinned. "We could call ourselves the Illuminati."

There was a general rolling of eyes. "Sure, Tony," Bruce said patronizingly.

Natasha looked at Steve and raised an eyebrow.

"I think it's a good idea," Steve said. "With tech nowadays we don't even need to be in the same place to make decisions. We can conference from all over the world."

Diana eyed him curiously at the thoughtful tone in his voice, but didn't ask him about it. That discussion would keep for later. Right now, there was the fate of superheroes to decide. "I think it's a reasonable plan," she said. "Take the pressure off any one single person."

"Make sure no one is trying to do something stupid," Natasha added.

"You're going to retire, aren't you?"

Bucky's soft, knowing question made them all freeze, and turn to look at Steve. He glanced up at the ceiling, seeking strength, and back to Bucky. "How did you know?" Steve asked.

Bucky smiled slightly. "Steve, you've wanted a family and kids since you were five years old. You have a bigger paternal streak than Clint or Tony-"

"Hey!"

"Lies!"

"And now that you and Diana are going to have a baby..." Bucky shrugged. "I just knew."

"You're right," Steve admitted. He glanced at his wife and was strengthened when she smiled at him. "I don't care if it makes me selfish, but I don't want to be Captain America anymore. He's a symbol I've carried for eighty years and I'm ready to move on." He squeezed Diana's hand and stared steadily at the others, awaiting their judgement.

"Priorities change," Sam said, shrugging.

Tony grinned. "Be selfish, Cap. Take your retirement." He sobered slightly and clasped Steve's shoulder. "The world owes you that much. We owe you that much."

Steve smiled slightly. "Thank you Tony." He sobered quickly. "You know I'm not abandoning you guys though, right?"

"Neither of us," Diana interjected.

"We'll still be here for support, training, the Illuminati-"

"No don't start calling it that-"

"Yes! Illuminati confirmed!"

"Tony I will stab you."

"Ha-ha!"

Steve ignored the by-play. "And, you know, full-scale alien invasions and things."

"And I will always be there for my soulmates," Diana added, smiling at each one of them. She grinned wryly. "I apologize in advance for any pregnancy-hormone-related side effects."

Tony blanched. "Oh no. You mean I have to go through that again?"

Rhodey leaned over and punched him in the arm.

Peter raised his hand. "Question."

"Yeah?"

"Who's gonna be Captain America now?" Peter asked. "I mean, the Avengers are led by Cap. Who's gonna make the plans and call the shots?"

Steve looked at Natasha, his second-in-command.

She shook her head. "I prefer the sidelines," she said simply.

He nodded, and looked at Sam.

Sam shook his head with a deprecating grin. "Thanks but no thanks. Right now I'm perfectly fine with my wings and my Redwing."

"All right." Steve looked at Bucky. "Buck? You think you can do it?"

Bucky's jaw dropped open and he pushed the hair out of his face. "Me? Steve, I'm-" he gestured to his left arm. "I'm not Cap, I'm not good like you are, I'm not-" He shook his head. "Why me?"

"Because you're smart. Your tactics and strategies are equal to mine, and you would take care of the team." Steve gave him the patented Cap-grin that had inspired armies. "I trust you, Buck. I trust you with them."

"But I can't do that," Bucky protested helplessly, pointing at Steve's golden smile.

"Cap can smirk," Steve said persuasively. "It's the twenty-first century, I think it's time for Captain America to show some spirit."

Bucky looked down at the floor briefly, and looked up at the others. "What do you think?" he asked.

They all smiled at him. "I think it's a great idea," Clint said. "Cap." And he held out his hand.

Bucky shook his hand firmly, and grinned.

They ordered pizza, and everyone stayed in the living room to eat, the Andy Griffith Show playing in the background.

Suddenly Wanda gasped. "Where are you going to live?" she asked.

Steve and Diana shared a glance. "Hadn't thought about that," Diana muttered, eyes widening. "If we stay here, we'll be working all the time."

"Not to mention that this place gets attacked like once every full moon," Pietro muttered. "We need to investigate that, by the way."

"I will add it to the list," Vision said.

"The cottage," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "You guys can use the cottage I own upstate. It's in a really nice rural area, it's not as farm-ish as Clint's place, but it's got room for your kid to run around in, Abby'd love it."

"We can't just sponge off you," Steve protested.

"Then buy it," Tony said reasonably. "I don't use the place anyway, it's going to need a lot of work. Probably. I haven't been there in years. I don't know. You know what? I'll just gift it to you. That's your baby shower present. Pretend to be surprised when Pepper gives you the title, Diana."

Diana shook her head. "That's crazy, Tony-"

"What's crazy is you two not taking what should really be yours. I mean, what am I going to do with a tiny house and fresh air?" Tony gave them a persuasive smile and threatened. "I'll tell Pepper you said no..."

Diana reached over and hugged him. "Thank you Tony."

He kissed her forehead. "Hey, my namesake's gotta have a roof over his head, right?"

"We do not know the gender of the child, it can't be anyone's namesake," Vision protested.

"You're naming it after me, right?" Natasha asked, "since the other one turned traitor?"

"No, me," Bucky protested.

Diana just leaned into Steve's arms and laughed at them. "What if we don't name it after anyone on the team?" she suggested.

"That's even worse!" everyone protested.

That night, as Steve and Diana curled together on the bed, Diana sighed. "I feel like this day has been like, a week long."

Steve laughed softly. "Should I ask Tony to check for temporal anomalies?"

"Maybe, yeah." Diana laughed, and leaned up to kiss him. "I love you."

"I love you." He put his hand over her lower abdomen. "And I love you too, sweetheart," he stage-whispered.

Diana felt happy tears spring to her eyes. "We're gonna be parents," she said softly, putting her hand over Steve's.

"Yeah." He kissed her. "This is going to be our greatest mission yet."


	45. Chapter 45

**A/N: Last chapter, tied with a neat little bow.**

Tony Stark's idea of a tiny house was a Colonial-style two-story house with four bedrooms and an actual carriage house off to the side, where at least five cars could fit into the converted garage. The yard was big enough to satisfy any dog's heart, and it was only forty minutes' drive from the Avengers facility. If you were going at a reasonable speed. Which most of Diana's soulmates did not.

However lovely the location was, the furniture was very old, the floors needed work, the wallpaper needed removing, and everything needed to be cleaned.

Diana's soulmates were glad to take that project for her. All she had to do was supervise, and lovingly arrange all her books in the shelves once they'd been installed. They'd fix up the nursery later.

At the same time, her responsibilities as Head of Accountability were slowly being shifted to other members of the Illuminati, and Steve was training Bucky in all the protocols for being leader of the Avengers.

*aAa*

At four and a half months, they discovered the gender of the baby.

"Congratulations! It's a girl," Dr. Abramson announced cheerfully.

Diana's eyes welled up with tears, and she smiled down at her rounding belly. "A girl," she echoed, rubbing her belly gently. She glanced over at Steve to see his reaction.

He was smiling so tenderly it made her heart ache. "A daughter," he said softly, placing his hand over hers. "We're going to have a daughter." He knelt in front of her and kissed her stomach. "Hey, baby doll," he murmured. "You're going to be beautiful, just like your mommy."

Diana smiled at him. "Now we can give Natasha the go-ahead on the purple and cornflower blue," she said.

Steve just grinned.

*aAa*

When Diana was five and a half months pregnant, she realized none of her clothes fit her anymore, either in the hips or the chest area. She cried out of sheer frustration and stole a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt from Steve's closet.

"All right," Natasha said, entering their quarters with Wanda and Pepper in tow, "FRIDAY paged us and we are doing this."

Diana groaned and hid behind the pillows on the couch. "Noooo..."

"Wardrobe makeover!" Wanda said cheerfully, removing the pillow from Diana's reach by telekinesis.

Pepper brought out all her maternity clothes from when she had Jay. "We'll start with these. Keep whatever you'd like, and we'll go shopping online for the rest. Completely painless, just like you did for me."

Diana's jaw dropped. "I thought you got rid of these," she said, running her fingers over the loose, flowing fabrics.

"I knew you'd need these eventually," Pepper said smugly.

So Diana kept most of it, and what wasn't her style Pepper donated. Then they did some online shopping with the help of FRIDAY's holographic interface, and Diana could wear her own clothes again. But she kept the T-shirt and sweatpants anyways, for those rare nights that Steve wasn't there.

*aAa*

With the house, the transfer of responsibilities, the actual move, and preparing for the baby, Diana felt like the seven months of pregnancy flew by.

That was of course, in between the morning sickness (which she had every morning until six months), the cravings for pickles and cream cheese at all hours of the night (Steve never slept anyways, so he was glad to get things for her), and the crying jags whenever any of her soulmates were the slightest bit emotional (My Sister's Keeper was banned in the Avengers facility), and the fact that Diana felt like an ever-increasing balloon whale... well. Maybe the seven months didn't exactly fly by, but they hustled.

The media finally got wind of it when Diana and the Avengers attended the anniversary for the Battle of Manhattan when she was eight months pregnant. "I look like a boat," Diana said despairingly, glaring at her now-round silhouette. "A boat with swollen feet."

Steve laughed and put his arms around her waist. "You do not look like a boat," he assured her. "You look like the beautiful, glowing, confident, successful woman you are, who is eight months pregnant. There is nothing boat-like about you." He kissed her gently. "And nobody's going to notice your swollen ankles. I promise."

She sighed. "I still feel huge."

He placed his hands on her round belly, and pressed a kiss there. "Sweetheart, tell mommy she's being ridiculous," he said coaxingly.

A nudge in Diana's ribs made her smile, and she rubbed at her stomach. "All right, all right, I'm convinced." She smiled down at Steve, who had knelt to help her put on her shoes. "Have I informed you that you look devastatingly handsome in that suit, yet?" she asked.

"No, you haven't told me yet," Steve replied, grinning charmingly.

"Consider yourself informed," she said, taking his hands. "Tall, strong, handsome, the perfect Dorito-shape..."

He groaned and dropped her hands to hide his face. "I thought we'd banned that meme," he complained.

"At the Avengers facility, not our home," Diana reminded him.

Steve wrapped his arms around her. "Our home," he echoed. "I love those words."

*aAa*

Predictably, Steve was gone on a mission when Diana started going into labor. When he went into battle he was just The Soldier now, and the Avengers only called him when there were big things afoot, like giant mutant centipedes that were tumbling out of Australia's sewer system into every inhabited city.

Mrs. Lawrence was there when Diana started having mild contractions. She kept a calm head and got Maria Hill to comm the Avengers and tell them the news.

On the television, most people wondered why Steve Rogers completely lost his head during the battle and almost got eaten, and had to be rescued by the Hulk, and why he was airlifted out by SHIELD when the battle wasn't even half over.

Steve arrived in New York just as Diana's contractions were getting critical and she was ready to start pushing. "Right on time," Diana panted, squeezing his hand gratefully.

He winced at the power behind her grip. "Wouldn't be anywhere else," he promised.

After what seemed like hours, Diana gave one final push, and heard the beautiful sound of her baby's first cry. The rest of the delivery faded away, and the only thing she could focus on was the tiny bundle in the doctor's arms, that was soon transferred to hers.

The baby was eight pounds, four ounces. She was red, wrinkly, and bald, with blue eyes just like Steve's. And she was the most beautiful, perfect thing that Diana had ever seen in her life. Diana cried with joy and touched her baby's soft cheek. "She's perfect," she said, glancing up at Steve.

Tears of joy were streaking down his cheeks as he stared down at the tiny bundle. "Perfect," he said softly. He leaned down to kiss Diana. "She's perfect," he said.

"Hold her?" Diana asked tiredly.

Steve carefully accepted his newborn daughter into his arms, and right then and there, silently swore to protect her above all other things besides his wife. "My baby girl," he said proudly, showing her to Mrs. L.

"She's beautiful," the new grandma said, wiping her eyes. "Looks just like Diana when she was a baby, but with your eyes." She kissed Steve on the cheek. "I'm so happy for you both."

Steve sat by Diana's side after she'd gotten cleaned up and refreshed. "Are we still certain for the name?" he asked, unable to tear his eyes away from the sight of his daughter laying skin-to-skin on her mother's chest.

Diana touched the baby's tiny hand. "Margaret Natalia Rogers," she said. "The two strongest women we know. Of course."

Steve presented Margaret Natalia Rogers to the Avengers when they came back, and was pleased to see Natasha shed actual happy tears over her namesake.

Everyone was enchanted by the new baby. Jay took one look at her, and declared, "Mine," one of the only words in his vocabulary. The young Stark heir claimed Margaret Rogers (commonly known as Meg) as his sister and comrade-in-arms from that day forward.

Mrs. Lawrence stayed two months to help Diana with the baby, and then left the young family to find their own way.

*aAa*

They were never short of capable babysitters, and Meg grew up surrounded by people who loved her very much. She had two soul marks on her soft skin. It surprised nobody at all when one of them was deciphered as the word 'mine' by Vision's sharp gaze. The other one, only time would tell.

*aAa*

Four years after Meg was born, Diana and Steve announced another upcoming edition to their family. The second child was born James Anthony Rogers, on a SHIELD helicarrier of all places. Nobody grudged either Captain America or Director Stark their smug grins.

*aAa*

There were always battles to be fought, and new heroes to be found.

Clint finally retired, leaving the bow and arrow to Kate Bishop, one of the other supposedly "lost cause" cases he'd sponsored over the years. She made an excellent Hawkeye.

Bucky and Natasha stopped beating around the bush and got married, enjoying many, many years of ninja-spy-ness together.

Thor and Sif also finally got married, and Sif became Queen of Asgard, which Loki thought was fitting since she was still too bossy in his eyes. Loki became an avid student of mythology, and when he wasn't on Asgard, he was traveling the realms, gathering stories about the past and the future.

Vision and Wanda got married a few years later, and fostered several super-powered children with telepathic/kinetic powers.

Pietro and Darcy kept up an eternal flirtation, but neither of them were interested in anything more.

Rhodey eventually retired to Malibu to spoil Jay rotten.

Peter married his high school sweetheart and became a prominent scientist, when he wasn't catching bad guys.

Scott and Hope got married and had twins. Cassie took her role as big sister seriously, and moved in with her dad and step-mother to help with the babies. Antony the Third (and Fourth) came with her.

Sam moved to the west coast and became the leader of the West Coast Avengers. He preferred the life of bachelor and favorite uncle.

Coulson was pleased as punch when Samuel Phillip Rogers was born two years after James.

The primordial particle bonding Diana and her soulmates together did not disband for a very long time. Their legends and their legacy live on.

THE END.

 **A/N 2: So... this is it. The end of an epic journey. From start to finish, it took me ten months to complete this story. Thank you to everyone who's reviewed and follow/favorited. I'm actually just a teensy bit emotional right now, with this huge project over. (What am I going to obsess over now?!) Just in time for the start of National Novel Writing Month though, so that's good. I will be updating my other work-in-progress, Puppy Love, fairly soon, and the stories will by no means stop coming, so... stay tuned! And, Live long and prosper.**


	46. Chapter 46

**Greetings and salutations!**

 **This is just a quick note and an update to let you know that I've started a new series of one-shots for this story. It's under "Shakespeare Has a Quote for Everything: One-Shots" (very creative, I know). Here's a preview of the first one:**

"Okay, are you sure you've got this?"

Steve kissed his wife. "I've got this," he assured her. "Go."

"Okay, because the UN summit for extraterrestrial immigration isn't that important-"

He smiled indulgently. "This is the most important meeting of the year and you know it, doll."

"Ugh, fine." Diana gave Meg a kiss on the head, and a final cuddle. "Okay baby, here we go with daddy." She handed the five-month-old over reluctantly and picked up her bag. "I'll call you tonight when I get to the embassy, and don't forget that Sam and Bucky are at the facility if you need backup, and don't forget to change her before you put her down tonight, and-"

 **The rest of this is in the new story. All the other one-shots will be posted under that one. Thanks for reading!**


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